#i started thinking about the parallels between coming-of-age and portal fantasy stories

[fictionadventurer]

Fantasy retelling of Northanger Abbey:

Innocent young Catherine Morland is overjoyed to have the chance to go to the King's City, leaving her quiet country town for a more diverse and magical metropolis.

Catherine loves reading fairy tales about the dramatic deeds of long-ago fae.

Henry Tilney is a trickster fairy prince who is jaded by a lifetime of dealing with the machinations of the fae courts. He gets amusement out of living among humans and laughing at their follies.

Catherine meets Henry and is immediately awed at his backstory and (metaphorically) enchanted by his charming personality.

For reasons unknown, Henry's father encourages Henry to romantically pursue Catherine. Henry half-heartedly goes along with it, because it's not a bad idea to stay in Dad's good graces.

And then he's shocked to find himself actually falling in love--because Catherine loves him and because she's genuinely innocent and good in a world where he thought such people didn't exist.

To everyone's surprise, Catherine gets an invite to stay at Henry's father's palace.

An actual enchanted fairy palace? How could Catherine say no?

As they're traveling there, Henry plays up all the old fairy tale tropes warning Catherine how to behave. He's joking (things haven't been like that for centuries) but Catherine still takes it to heart.

Catherine hears of the dramatic tale of the life and death of Henry's mother (perhaps a human? So Henry's actually only half-fae?). With her imagination primed by the stories she knows, Catherine starts to interpret faint "evidence" as proof that his mother's actually hidden away under a fate-worse-than-death curse, perhaps just waiting for a pure-of-heart maiden to come break the spell.

Henry catches Catherine during her quest and is amused and a bit offended. Do you know what you're saying? Maybe things like that could happen long ago and far away, but the fairies are Christianized now. Enchantments like that are far too brutal to consider.

She's right that his dad's a jerk, though.

Not long after this, Henry's dad sends Catherine away in disgrace. He had heard that Catherine was the Chosen One of a prophecy and wanted her to increase the power of his kingdom. He's shocked to learn it's not true (you mean humans can lie?), and in his anger he's harsh in sending her away.

Henry refuses to abandon Catherine and gets himself banished for refusing to give her up.

He shows up at her ordinary home and declares his love and they live happily ever after.

[kaypeace21]

Do you think that the hellfire club is a D&D group or some sport team or what do you think it is? (BTW big fan of your theories)

I think it’s a d&d club. I talked about it in past posts.I think being about d&d makes sense since the game would foreshadow future plot points- like it did in prior seasons . And the “hellfire club” is even an X-men group relating to the dark Phoenix which was referenced in s1 by Will . And I think they’ll take inspiration from that comic book arc for future seasons too . (So it’s an eastergg) . But, also , being called “the hellfire club” is probably an inside joke with the club members- since in the 80s, adults claimed d&d was about devil worship.)

In Bts photos- one of the members has a ‘Wasp’ pin which is a heavy metal band formed in 1982 -so the club is not so shockingly confirmed to be into rock.Along with d&d (if the leaks are legit) . Makes sense since both things are part of counter culture that was demonized by the “satanic panic” in the 80s. In the 80s. D&d (similar to rock music) was believed to be satanic - so the club name (for the club members)is a joke making fun of these people who think that’s true . But also (as a show is) another dark Phoenix ref . One of the s4 movies ‘paradise lost’  (was about a real life case) of small town teens   who were into punk music, horror movies, stephen king, wore black,  into wicca, and accused of being gay. They were unfairly blamed for ‘ satanic child m**ders (in the woods & near a river). They weren’t guilty . But, because ��satanic panic’ was still alive and well ...the town’s people used their hobbies/ punk look/ and perceived sexualities as ‘proof” they were guilty. The case was later described as a ‘witch hunt’. Meanwhile the other (more likely suspect) at the time was John “Mark” Byers- who was a hunter, had a thing for hunting knives, religious, admitted to hitting his kids, and was  accused of s**ually abusing his son, shot pumpkins (s2 ref), and sang a song about creating a portal to another world without light , that you could enter via a tree (s1 ref). Years later-after the doc- it’s implied he wasn’t guilty either. But, one of the other victims’ fathers - Terry was assumed to be guilty - he was also was accused of m***esting his son and daughter (by his own family members). Admitted to hitting his wife and kids. And had a police report filed on him - describing breaking into a women’s house , while she was in a tub and trying to attack her. He was also formerly charged for m*rdering one of his wife’s family members- but got away with it claiming self defense). Heck if the names John byers/Terry being in the film/st wasn’t crazy enough- the victims were named Steve, Michael, and Chris byers (luckily ours don’t have that same horrible fate/back stories).

I kind of assume - the d&d club will be looked at suspiciously as teens go missing/ kidnapped/ or maybe found k*lled in the woods/quarry. And the cops/others think they’re “satanic k*llings” and rumors about the d&d club insue. And maybe our teens suspect it’s the demogorgan again. But as a subversion- it isn’t and it’s a human . A human that by ab*sing Will- caused Will to unconsciously create many things including the demogorgan (which in d&d is called the “deep father”) . Also, in s3 they called Will “the devil’s baby” (Aka lonnie is the real “devil” ).And such incidents in the woods/ near the quarry would connect back to s1 demogorgan & Will being found in the quarry. And if paying attention you already noticed s1 demogorgan paralleled Lonnie a lot! So s4 would start bringing things to the surface- in regards to how evil Lonnie really is.Not to mention more hints (I previously posted) that hinted they’ll go with this “ch*ld serial ki##er plot line...

But then again I think it may not be literally Lonnie. My guess: Brenner (who I think was created/based on lonnie) is possibly doing failed experiments of teens to open portals (in the basement of pethurst -like in hellraiser 2) . And dumping failed experiments in the woods/water. A few movies had the d*ad victims have numbers carved in them. And then El/kali team up and maybe sneak into the facility (like in ace Ventura people posing as siblings investigate a m*rder and one fakes being ‘crazy’ to sneak in and find a murderer) . In ‘peanut butter solution’ 2 kids - 1 of them is goth/not american teams up with a girl to find a man named ‘senior ‘who is kidnapping kids. 1 of them also sneaks in and is captured on purpose to investigate. Kali already busted Dottie out of a psych hospital and lucas referenced El being there in s1. Alexi (like el-another alter of Will) watches roadrunner- in that papa bear throws him in a psych facility. And assasains creed/dream warriors - the psychiatric facility was similar to the lab with sensory deprivation tanks, cameras, solitary confinement in dark rooms. We already know 1 new character is against the mistreatment of people at the facility. Also the real pethurst (in Pennsylvania) -known for human rights a*use issues- wasn’t a psych facility (but a place for people with intellectual disabilities). So El being at the psych hospital version in Indianna (and maybe having id herself like I mentioned before -would be a nice ref). And in assasains creed- when the character starts sneaking around investigating - the dr reveals how the character is actual the reincarnation of their ancestor ( brenner tells el she’s an alter of Will’s ). And before that the dr was making that person relive the traumatic past of their past life/other person -which they couldn’t change (sort of like el seeing Billy’s past in s3). Also kali said her and El should team up to face their father- which I think they’ll do. And I’m excited about it!

I still think brenner was created by Will and based on Lonnie so he could be responsible and connected to Will/Jon’s backstory with Lonnie/the Woods. In an abstract way. Like how brenner/Lonnie forced their kids to k*ll animals. Brenner threw El in a dark room/ Lonnie threw Will in a trunk. Brenner’s name being associated with the woods and Lonnie being a hunter , etc.

Also we know s4 involves this dark-storyline involving c**ld m*rders cause of foreshadowing

* Also, mentioned here how in s4 rolling a 11 isn’t actually a good thing and that it’s a callback to Will rolling a 7- in s1. Before things go array.In “paradise lost” when blaming the innocent goth boys someone asks the chief “on a scale 1 to 10 how confident are you? You have the right men?” And he laughs and says “11.”

*And , just for historical context of how ‘metal ‘ and ‘scary ‘ d&d was to nonplayers (in the 80s).

“In 1985, 60 Minutes dedicated a full hour to the supposed connection between D&D, Satanic rites, murders and su*cides . 2 years earlier, Patricia Pulling formed Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons (BADD) . She described D&D as ‘a fantasy role-playing game which leads to demonology, witchcraft, voodoo, murder, r*pe, blasphemy, suicide, assassination, insanity, sex perversion, homosexuality, pr*stitution, satanic type rituals, gambling, barbarism, cannibalism, sadism, desecration, demon summoning, necromantics, divination and other teachings.’ In 1987, Peter Leithart and George Grant published The Catechism of the New Age, a pamphlet where they introduced the idea that D&D was immoral because roleplaying allowed too much freedom for critical thinking, which might lead to heretical ideas. That same year, Chris Pritchard and two friends conspired to murder Pritchard’s stepfather in his sleep, the media ignored the obvious financial motivation and instead focused on the men being in the same D&D group.”

( I think quite a few of those themes will come up in s4/5 - although d&d isn’t the actual cause). It’ll just be a subversion.

[jackasstm]

Atlas - 19 - Any pronouns - EST timezone 

Until I have my official document set up, this will do. So this is an indie single rp blog for Jack T. Alez, also known as Ghost ( as identified when speaking to the muse ) and Host ( as identified when narrating the beginning of most of the plotted starters ), a fantasy, supernatural, and horror original character who is the cosmic eldritch Embodiment of Trickery affiliated with This is the Astral Age universe / novel series ( details of this universe can be found in @astrotechne ) of mine.

Jack Alez is composed of every elements from many folklores, religions, mythologies, and medias on the archetypal tricksters, especially the Jack himself, which I do not own anything that is commonly known about the Jack and any of the other trickster figures, whatever you see that you may not find in any sources or see that they are more detailed than what the sources have given is respectively created and developed by me, which I would extremely appreciate if they do not get stolen. Current information of Jack is located under the cut, though not everything is set to stones at the moment, so expect a lot of changes as time goes on. Note that Jack always speak in third person as he narrates what is happening around him, and my writing style with him is based on script plays. Please have a look into this post to see what’s up with that for less confusion, I hope.

Keep in mind that this blog contains heavy sensitive content, involving religion, horror, supernatural, and unreality themes, childhood and past alcohol abuse, depression, murder, gore, and death. Everything will be tagged as “#trigger cw” ( I tag “#ask to tag cw” just in case I tag something that I feel may have sensitive content, but I don’t know / can’t tell what specifically ). While I consider myself to be very chill to not really give much attention on the rules for myself at the moment ( although you can find my guideline in @astrotechne if you really want to know how I roll here ), but while I am always more than happy to write with anyone with any kind of muses as long as they are not a supporter of abuse / pedophilia / rape / incest / ableism / etcetera, and they are not hating on anyone based on their ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etcetera, and there is enough patience and understanding to put up with my extremely slow ass at literally everything oocly and icly ( though Imma be real, I’m mostly here to just ramble about Jack nonsense than roleplay because I love him so much and too much ), we can have fun and start cracking open a cold one with the boys...

Remember: Roleplay is a hobby, not a jobby!

( Current alt. faceclaims include: M.ichiel H.uisman, D.an S.teven, and R.obert S.heehan )

This is indeed the Jack we love and hate in the many fables and nursery rhymes he’s in. He goes by every other forms of his name for the shits and giggles and to hide his identity from certain tricksters who wished to torture and kill him, but in the end, he is referred to as the Jack, which many entities eventually takes the habit of calling him either Jacky, Jackaboy, and / or Jackass ( which there’s a rumour he was the reason why the word, jackass, exists ). Ask him what his middle name stands for and he will just t-poses at you.

Jack is the amalgam of every single creation that links to / have parallels with him and his original memories ( such as J.ack F.rost from R.ise of the G.uardians, J.ack H.orner from F.ables, etcetera— even fanfictions of him and his amalgamations. ). Meaning that he is every Jacks of those tellings, retellings, and the in between. Every time a new story about him is told, his soul will form a new fragment of an identity based on that Jack, essentially holding “new” memories as gathering more details of his background. He also have the memories of every known folklore and mythological tricksters and he considers himself to be them due to his high narcissism.

( Any aspect of this personality can change anytime— this is just a draft ) :  “Jack is a trickster who takes a great delight in pulling pranks on everyone and being a source of joy and entertainment to everyone, especially children, which he is considered to be the Patron God of them, protecting children across the Universe from their abusers and bullies and teaching them trickery that is used for self protection. Despite what a lot of beings say of him as being a truly cold and cruel individual, he does genuinely wish to be friends with everyone as he loves to think of himself as the best one to be around. He just have difficulties seeing how sharp and overbearing his words and thoughts can be to others. Pride can get in his way at times, though he just wants to find the strength to make himself feel loved when no one else does because of who he is as a lazy, strange trickster.”

Jack made a deal with the Devil that if he could outsmart every trickster from folklores and mythologies without getting tricked on once, he would have to give him an immortal body when the bodies he would possess died too quickly because of the extreme coldness his soul held. He succeeded and became the most despised individual in the world with every tricksters and their associates coming after him. Due to this, Jack is always on the run, entering into different universes and worlds, and then leaving after staying there for a short period of time.

Though because Jack wasn’t specific enough on what kind of a body he wanted, the Devil used this fact to get his revenge on him and placed his soul into an immortal human body that was attached with the body parts of the animals that were associated with trickery, making him a monster. Although during the deal, whenever the Devil wasn’t around, Jack would steal powers and memories of certain tricksters by freezing their feet to make their souls frozen and broke the particles out of them that would contain their powers and memories before inhaling them, gaining what he most desired from them. So after Jack showed he could shapeshift from Loki’s soul particles, he left Hell, leaving the Devil in fury at the fact that he was the last victim to be outsmarted by Jack.

Eventually, with Jack holding so many identities from the creations people had told and created after him, to generalize his overall identity, he became better known as the Embodiment of Trickery.

More notes to go over eventually: Jack had gained the ability to warp reality / Created his own universe that is considered to be a paradise for the lost spirits of the children / The Devil eventually saw so much potential in Jack through his remarkable strength and trickery that he wanted him to join in Hell, but remembering how the Devil wouldn’t take him in when he died, Jack made a deal that if the Devil would help and guide him regardless of anything, he would join him for half of a year, hence, Jack had the Devil’s Mark on his arm that would summon the Devil from the portal opening on said body part.

[yourrealitybeyondtime]

My OC Descriptions!

Thank you so much for your positive responses, @dasjansel @corvid-moon @teeny-weeny-ducklings @technoxslayer360 @incoherentmoose and @cake-and-roses ! Since you guys asked, I made overall descriptions of my OCs and a bit of a synopsis. Sorry it's so long! I hope you enjoy it and please provide feedback!

This is a story that takes the "chosen ones" and fantasy tropes and turns them on their heads. The main character never accepts his role. The guy doesn't get the girl. There's no prophecy or guide. The populace thinks they're monsters, not heros. Their powers are explained scientifically. They have to help themselves emotionally so they can help others physically. It's just a bunch of young adults with problems getting into shenanigans, figuring out life's lessons, and maybe saving the world.

Name: Adrian

Age: 18

Height: 5'8"

Gender Identity: Male

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Bisexual (Feminine leaning)

Race: Human

Ethnicity: German/Portugese

Neurodivergent: Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Active Power: Super strength

Passive Power: Truth (Ability to see through illusions, understands foreign languages, can tell when someone is lying, etc)

Activating Emotion: Courage

Associated Color: Yellow/Gold

Associated Element: Air/Wind

Description: This rich, all-American, high school boy has had a near perfect life growing up until a burglar breaks in his home. Thankfully, he stops the villain… by tackling him through an oak door! First hailed as a hero, his social life then gets thrown into disarray as this new found strength that seems to randomly come and go ends up earning him the reputation of a destructive menace. On top of that, he starts passing out and having "visions." Doctors say he's having seizures, but these visions feel more real than his life ever has, and it's always of the same place, a magic lab where he's the experiment! His visions keep getting worse until one day he fully wakes up in the lab and escapes, but now he can't go back home!

Adrian finds out he's stuck in the world of Mythos, the parallel Earth where all of our fantastical dreams come from, and he's not happy about it! And the locals don't seem happy about him either. Just wanting to get this over with and go home, Adrian faces more ugly reality in this fantasy world than he ever did in his privileged life in our world. With no guides or prophecies and regarded as a monster, Adrian has to figure out how to find others like himself to help him save the world and go back home.

Adrian is the self-proclaimed leader of the group. He's obnoxious, self-centered, and stubborn, and completely uninterested in helping unless it benefits him somehow. You are supposed to dislike him at first. He matures and becomes much more open-minded and accepting through the journey.

Initial Motivation: To get back home

Journey: Breaking out of your bubble is more important than staying in it, others suffer in a way different from you, you cannot speak for others, use privilege to help those that don't have privilege, attraction to anyone who shows femininity or doing female-assigned tasks/behaviors (being kind, showing emotions, being vulnerable) does not make you less of a man, the greatest strength is facing the truth

Name: Iola

Age: 20

Height: 6'2"

Gender Identity: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Lesbian

Race: Human

Ethnicity: Afro-Columbian

Neurodivergent: Anxiety

Active Power: Shield

Passive Power: Acceleration/Regeneration (Subconsciously heals others, requires focus if needs boost in power, ie, if someone is bleeding out. Can cause things to grow, but also age. Cannot remove poisons/curses, cannot bring people back to life, conditional)

Activating Emotion: Care

Associated Color: Pink/Orange

Associated Element: Earth/Wood

Description: Iola's life had been pretty quiet since she and her dad started a farm out in the wilderness, until a strange boy pops up who brings a whole lot of unwanted attention. She stumbles upon her own powers as she defends her home, and then sets out to find others with Adrian.

Iola is the mom of the group, both the good parts and the bad. She is kind and caring and helpful and also stressed af and sometimes pokes her nose where she's not welcome. It's suggested at first that she may be the Adrian's love interest, but, surprise! She only likes girls. She seems to have lost someone precious to her, and it's not her mom.

Initial Motivation: Believes in following destiny

Journey: Self-sacrifice is not always necessary, mediation is more important than appeasement, give without expectation of return, worthy of just existing, important to take care of self in order to take care of others, rest is a type of work and just as important as being active

Name: Emlyn

Age: 21

Height: 6'0"

Gender Identity: Androgynous

Pronouns: He/Him

Sexuality: Pansexual

Race: Human

Ethnicity: Northern Irish

Neurodivergent: Complex PTSD, Depression

Active Power: Chemical Reaction (Interaction of two or more substances that results in different substances. Can only initiate reaction, cannot control the outcome. Usually uses fire as a weapon, but can use others. Can also stop reaction in process, but cannot reverse.)

Passive Power: Psychic (Ability to sense when others are nearby, can receive symbolic messages through dreams, not prophetic)

Activating Emotion: Passion

Associated Color: Deep blood red

Associated Element: Fire

Description: Emlyn finally seems to have found a home at the inn he works at when two strangers pop up with trouble following them. He unleashes his powers to defend them, but his loved ones reject him when his secret is exposed. With nowhere else to go, he tags along with Adrian and Iola, the only people who seem to accept him how he is. However, he harbors a terrible secret that he's hellbent on taking to the grave, and it creates a division between himself and the others.

Emlyn is very quiet and reclusive. He doesn't talk much, and seems to be insistent on covering as much skin as possible at all times. He's not the angry or brooding type, but surprisingly polite and soft spoken. And surprisingly strong. However, he seems like he'll do anything to avoid using his powers, and almost seems scared of them. Adrian bullies him frequently, threatened by the fact that he's attracted to Emlyn. Emlyn doesn't seem to care, but eventually lashes out, showing a very different, vicious side.

Initial Motivation: Redemption

Journey: The past is the past, use mistakes to learn and teach, secrets create unnecessary burden, it's okay to have darkness, do not let negative emotions rule over logical decisions, take both capabilities and lack of into account, sometimes you just can't do what you want even if others can, you are not damned

Name: Liesel

Age: 82

Height: 5'0"

Gender Identity: Genderfluid

Pronouns: She/Her, He/Him, They/Them

Sexuality: Abrosexual

Race: Fairy/Changeling

Ethnicity: Jewish

Neurodivergent: Autistic

Active Power: Freedom (Ability to unlock anything, create doors/portals with conditions)

Passive Power: Choice (Can tell what someone has decided before they act on it, very useful in combat; can see what future "paths" can be taken but cannot tell outcomes)

Activating Emotion: Hope

Associated Color: Sky blue

Associated Element: Water

Description: Liesel has had to protect her people for decades, so she's more than a bit reluctant to leave with some humans to go on some adventure. When she realizes that she needs to, she goes with them, but completely mistrusts them.

Where Iola and Emlyn are more passive, Liesel is even more aggressive than Adrian. She challenges everything Adrian knows and really gets him to start looking at things differently. They develop a weird rivalry dynamic and eventually soften up with each other.

Initial Motivation: Protect her people

Journey: Evil does not originate from the same place, no group of people are all the same, there's a difference between honesty and being cruel

Name: Uri

Age: ??? (They tell a different number every time they're asked)

Height: 5'4"

Gender Identity: Agender

Pronouns: They/Them

Sexuality: Asexual

Race: Dragon

Ethnicity: Nigerian

Neurodivergent: N/A

Active Power: Light Manipulation (Can be used to make self or others invisible, create illusions, blind someone, etc. Does not actually makes things disappear/materialize, just makes it look like it.)

Passive Power: Compulsion (Redirects electrical impulses between neurons. Makes people think certain things, somewhat like intrusive thoughts. The more impulsive someone is, the easier they are to manipulate. Often accidentally shares own thoughts with others. Usually uses for persuasion among foes and to pull pranks among friends. Cannot read minds.)

Activating Emotion: Elation

Associated Color: Emerald green

Associated Element: Metal

Other: Disabled/Born without wings

Description: Uri's just minding their own business, napping on top of their treasure trove when some adventurers break in. Those same adventurers open that weird lock contraption they've been trying to open for the last two centuries. Interesting. Rather than confronting the adventurers, Uri decides to join them in hopes of making sure their treasure doesn't get destroyed, to find some more, and to enjoy some chaos along the way.

Uri is confident, charasmatic, and devilishly handsome. They only care about their treasure, but slowly finds themself caring about the others.

Initial Motivation: To protect their treasure

Journey: Self-preservation includes helping others, happiness is worth going the long way for, people have different paths to the same goal and that's okay

Name: Oriana

Age: 19

Height: 5'6"

Gender Identity: Demigirl

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Pansexual

Race: Human?

Ethnicity: Cherokee

Neurodivergent: ADHD

Active Power: Sonic/Song

Passive Power: Empath (Ability to sense motives, can literally share emotions when making physical contact, can transfer powers between people)

Activating Emotion: Love (Both romantic and platonic)

Associated Color: White/Purple

Associated Element: Spirit/Aether

Other: Intersex

Description: Oriana has been waiting at the edge of the Ancient Forest for a long time. She doesn't remember why, but she knows she needs to guide five adventurers through the massive forest that covers half the world. For some reason, she's the only one who can survive traversing it.

Oriana is sweet and kind and too naive for her own good, having never been exposed to civilization or other people before. She seems to have a mind of a child, but has the wisdom and understanding of someone who has been alive for a very long time. Emlyn develops a crush on her due to her friendly and accepting nature and eventually confides in her. Their past is far more intertwined than either of them remember, and is the answer to why this is all happening.

Initial Motivation: Because she was asked to

Journey: Evil lives in everyone, purity is non-existent, be kind to those who "don't deserve it" without allowing self to be walked on, different facets of love

[nicole-goddessofloki]

Would you go through?

We all have seen it in films/tv shows or animation shows. Suddenly someone stands in front of a door or a portal to another world. Imagine it happens to you. You are just walking in the beauty of nature on a sunny but cold day like this. You are walking on a bridge, there is something on the end. Still too much bright sun light to see what‘s in front of you. You come closer. Then suddenly you see the door. Would you risk to go through? I would.

(Google: parallel universe for more pictures like the above one)

If you are still doubting.. What if I say to you this will wait for you at the other side:

I‘ll bet the answer is definitely YES now right? 

Whenever I think of heaven or an parallel universe, ever since I first saw Thor (2011) I see Asgard, the world of Thor and Loki. Marvel created a lovely world, even though it has been destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok: By thinking, dreaming and writing about it we‘ll keeping it alive!

[0]

“At last, finally done!”, she lifted her hands in the air. Her hands were tired but she was content. According to her digital clock it was 2:17 in the night. Obviously, she thought because this number was following her for years now. All she could think of was to go get some sleep. It was late and she had a lot to do tomorrow anyway. 

Do you remember the stories about a little bird whispering in your ear, all you need to do is believe? What‘s the distant between Where You Live and Asgard? No plane is able to reach, because how can you reach a land that stopped existing a long time ago? Think of me being the little bird, sharing all you need more is a little faith. Introduction of my story, still under construction: …

[1] The Dark World vs The Real World

For inexplicably reasons a portal was opened, somewhere on two places of a world Thor didn‘t knew it existed. The place was called earth, but it wasn‘t the same earth as Thor knew. The place Thor called earth or Midgard before, turned out to be not the real one. There was another earth? An earth what was supposed to be the real one? It was all unclear to him, but prove stood next to him. Next to him stood two young men. One of them could be Thor’s lookalike and the other Loki‘s. Thor picked them up together with a unknown red haired young lady and another man in Niflheim, where the portal originally brought them. And since that wasn‘t a safe place to stay for mortals, Thor postponed his other plans and brought them to Asgard. The lookalikes called themselves Chris Hemsworth & Tom Hiddleston, and said they were the actors from the Marvel films. Thor got confused, he didn’t really knew what that meant. They started to name titles like the Avengers and The Dark World. Chris exchanged glances with Tom. “I think we sucked ourselves in our movies,” he said while opening his eyes wide to explore the place. They both wondered what kind of miracle way combined fantasy with reality. “Somewhere later then the Dark World or Age of Ultron?”, Tom added. They just finished a heavy recording day before the portal came. But the portal wasn’t opened by one of the actors. On the other side of the world, the first portal got opened by the unknown red haired lady named Bonnie. She didn‘t knew how it happened, but right before it happened her ex bothered her. He had been stalking her ever since they broke up. Thor wondered how a mortal could open a portal, especially one like this. Had she been a Goddess in her previous life? Or was she a distant relative? Impossible, Thor thought. Speaking of which, where was she? And the other man was nowhere to be seen either. Thor already noticed the trip didn‘t go well as expected, but now he discovered he lost two of his travelers. One more problem before he could try to find a way to transport them back to their earth. If it wasn‘t already difficult enough, the portal came from the nothing and had disappeared the same way. Thor had no clue how to fix this, but he wasn‘t planning to let his travelers notice it. “We‘ll find them, they cannot be far!”, he said.

[ajournalformybrother]

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 The light starts to subside. I open my eyes, only to find myself in a place of white and coldness - snow. My army boots dig lightly in the ground as I take a few steps forward. A high-pitched sound emanates behind me. Glancing, I realize the portal I used to get here closes with a final dazzle of light, leaving only the husk of its stone archway. No turning back now. It's cold. I'll freeze to death if I don't find shelter soon. Night is coming, I can tell, as the humongous moon I see above is currently beckoning the darkness to battle its radiance. Or is it? It is still bright, but not much. The sun is there, belittled by its sister on the other side of the sky. How weird. Majority of my supplies did not make it through. Just me, my clothes, the knife attached to my left boot, and the electroshock batons sheathed in my belt. How I wish my Rubik’s Cube made it through. I will miss it a lot. Unfortunately, these plain, black t-shirt and fatigues don't offer much warmth. I need to keep moving. I follow the snowy path in front of the archway, making sure that I keep my distance from the road to avoid any unwanted situation. My clothes’ color is against the snow, and I could only try to hide behind the trunks of these gigantic pine-like trees to avert myself completely from view. My right hand is slowly getting numb. If not for the years of training my lungs would freeze and eventually lose their purpose, too. I rest under the branches of a 'pine tree', hidden by its bulky trunk as wide as three people. My body is breaking bit by bit. I should have prepared better. But how? No one back there knew what lied beyond. People were sent, but no one returned. At first, many were trained; from childhood, that is, until the age when they are capable of handling their own. Apparently, only one person can fit through a portal, and only every two years can a portal be opened, so it's only the best of the best. For almost a decade they've been sending 'prodigies', not knowing what will happen to them or what the real purpose of the mission is. They are just told that "It's a different world," and I couldn't agree more, for I am the fourth prodigy. The fourth prodigy of a suicide mission with a one-way ticket, maybe. No. I need to survive. I've been doing that all my life, it's no different now. I’m watching the mists blow out of my mouth when I hear the sound of wheels turning, like that of a cart. I stand alert as ever despite the cold that will soon embrace me to death. The conversation is coming from the other side where the road curves on a snowy hill. I dash towards the tree nearest to the hill, pushing myself between the trunk and a large rock. Who knows what kind of creatures live in such place? "Is this where Hearthglen's Portal stood?" a voice of a man says. I'm surprised. There are people coming, and they speak my language. Half of me wants to reveal myself and ask for help, the other half pledges to do what I’m trained to do. The sounds of the wheels are louder now, almost in front of me. "You got that right," another man says. "It was built off-road, so if you want to see it we will .." "What? Leave our wagon here and risk it to wandering bandits?" the other intervenes. "We are a few miles away from the nearest town, scum! We need to deliver this or else we'll lose our jobs. No daddly-waddling." A low, bellowing laughter. "You are always overreacting, Dern. Bandits? Here in Lunasia?" This is it. They are close enough. I can still move my left hand. It's now or never. I leap from my hiding place and catch the two men in surprise. They yell in fear, and I almost, too, upon seeing their long, pointed ears, but I stick to the thing that needs to be done. I dash towards the one pulling the wooden cart and deliver a swift blow from my shock batons. A low grunt while electrified and he's down. Before the other man could react, I quickly shift my footing to strike his chest, electrifying and sending him kissing the ground. He's twitching. And there I stand between two unconscious bodies which I stare at for a moment. They are not ..human. Seemingly. Slender and a little taller, their faces are far beautiful for a man. Their ears are long and pointed, which almost caught me off guard if not for my conviction to steal to survive. Basing on what I read back in our world, these are Elves. The same Elves in movies, fairy tales, and books which everyone would think are parts of fantasy written for stories and entertainment. I figure that's no fantasy now. A sudden, cold breeze wakes me up to my senses. I grab the cloak of the first Elf. It is made of some sort of thick, white wool which I immediately wear and cherish along with the warmth it provides. I dart my eyes towards their wooden wagon. Its cargo is covered in a thick sheet of grey silk. I pull it and smirk at what I see - more cloaks, tunics, winter gloves, leather boots, weapons, bags, and other travel necessities all lined meticulously. Fashion here seems to be inclined in the Middle Ages. Plus, looking at these guys, I guess they are merchants. Lucky. Too lucky for me. I rummage at the set of clothing and grab my own - a woolen hooded cloak outlined in grey I tied in front of my neck, a fading white tunic I wear over my black t-shirt, and black silk pants I wear over my fatigues. Yes, I'll keep my original clothes with me, aside from my army boots, which I bury deep in the snow and are replaced with another black leather pair which gives more insulation. Dressing up like these Elves would increase my chances of not being discovered. I keep my hood on, though. I don't have long ears, which might break my disguise if ever sticky situations come to happen. Seeing a sword hidden in its grey sheath designed with feather markings, I quietly snicker as I put it near the girdle, just beside my batons. I made sure they are hidden underneath my cloak. I continue rummaging through the contents. No guns, huh? Good thing I trained in melee, too. Before I leave, I pull the Elves near their wagon, much to the protest of my arms. They won't freeze there, as I half-buried them in the things they sell. I at least owe them that much not to let them die in the snow. They'll wake up soon. I just hope they won't recognize or remember me when they do. I face the direction the merchants were supposed to traverse. More than a mile? I'll take my chances and head to the town they mentioned. If I would live my life here scavenging or ambushing people to survive, then so be it. I was taught to be unforgiving; to prioritize my own whatever the situation is. But still, I wasn't born that way. I pick up the silken sheet of the wagon and cover the cart along with the merchants. Sighing a deep breath, I continue through the snow. The road is seemingly endless, and it's getting dark. I've been walking for an hour or two. I really am grateful for being the luckiest person alive to encounter wandering merchants in harsh weather. I've passed through hundreds of these 'pine trees' already, and they are getting creepier. The ones around me now seldom have leaves, making them appear like tall, bald Christmas trees. The snow also starts to subside. I'm getting hungry. All the trees I've seen so far look the same; they have no fruits or anything. I tried to catch one critter in the snow which looked like a white rabbit with four tails, but it sprinted as fast as lightning the moment I took a step towards it. I then laughed at that decision. I can't cook anything in this weather, so catching meat is pointless unless I want to eat it raw. The only idea I think of is to steal until I figure out things on my own. I am treading carefully when I see lights in front of me. They are lanterns. I count three, slowly getting closer every second. I quickly move off the road and hide behind the trunk of one tree, with my head the only thing visible from the pavement. I want to see. This is getting repetitive. If I could catch these people off guard like the merchants I could scavenge for food or anything edible just to fill my empty stomach. I just need to wait for another opportunity to strike. The lights are about a block away now. The people carrying the lanterns are wearing the same kind of clothing as I do, but without their hoods on. A little closer, and my eyes are struck with shock as I stare at the passersby: three women carrying nothing but small leather bags hanging beside their waists. All have long hair, and what protrude from their upper heads surprise me as much as seeing the long pointed ears of Elves. The women have large cat ears. They stop parallel to where I am, and this allows me to notice their tails that waggle in the air like furry snakes. They are half-cats, no doubt. Elves are not the only ones living here then. "Come out, dear. We've seen you," says a playful voice of one woman as she turns her head towards the tree where I am hiding. I gulp at my situation. I pull my head back and start thinking. Or rather, start panicking. If they see me they would know I am different, and I can't figure what would happen after that. I can't just run. That would raise more suspicion. Taking a deep breath, I decide to come out of hiding, making sure I have my hood on. "I-I'm lost. Could you help me find my way to town?" I slowly walk towards them, studying their faces further. The ears of the woman in the middle flick as she raises her eyebrows. She then points at the direction they came from. "Town's right there. Just a short way after the curve," she says, her striped, beige tail suspended in the air. "Quite rare for someone to travel alone, especially during these times." I notice that the woman with a black tail to my right is looking at me intently, as if she had seen through my cloak and hood. "You smell different, and new," she claims, much to my surprise. "Can you remove your hood?" Knowing that my cover would be blown soon, I suddenly have the urge to fight, but considering that these cat women have keen sight and smell, I know that they have something more to their advantage. Mine was the surprise attack, and I lost it as soon as I saw their lanterns coming towards me. I have no choice but to oblige. I slowly pull my hood down and expect gasps or any aggressive reaction coming from the three cat women, but they seem aloof. "Oh, a Dryad. No wonder you smell different," the beige one says. "What brings you here?" "Stop the chatter," the woman with white ears and tail intervenes. "Move your feet. The carriages are still far." After rolling her eyes, 'beige tail' waves her hand and continues walking with her companions. Good thing they are in a hurry. Hearing my stomach grumble, I walk towards the curved path. A couple of minutes more and I notice the snowy ground fading to light brown dirt. There are small patches of green grass sprouting on the soil, which make me feel warm after realising that the sleets already stop falling. The bald pine trees are still there, though, but I see a few ones with wide, brown trunks and fresh, light green leaves. The environment is starting to shift, it seems, as I figure I'm traveling away from the snowy region. I continue to walk, careful to stay away from the road. Wouldn't want another encounter with this place's peculiar inhabitants again. After a while, looking a distance away, houses made of wood, bricks, and what appears to be thatch greet me from both sides. They come in different shapes and sizes; the ones nearest to me are small and have only a single story, while there are very few with second floors and such. I shy away towards a hill and hide behind a tree, peeking at what seems to be a small town. From where I am, I see some of the houses circling a tall monolith wrapped in thick, grey vines with blood-tainted leaves. The sight of it gives me chills. The road goes beyond that, covered by a wide bungalow which looks like a town hall of some sort. Oil lanterns hang on numerous wooden posts scattered throughout the town, providing enough light to push away the impending night. Everything follows a Medieval theme, and as I hold onto the sword sheathed to my belt, I can't help but wonder if I traveled back in time or not. Aside from the crimson monolith, another thing that makes me shiver in both awe and shock are the townspeople. No one looks human to me. Absolutely no one. I can sight the occasional Elves, the ones with cat ears, and a few short, composed men with long beards that stand a little below an average person's chest. Dwarves, it seems. Which makes me wonder ..what kind of world is this? There are too many varieties of mankind compared to ours, which is divided only by ethnicity. I feel my soul tremble as I realise I might be the only Human to exist here. Still, watching the townspeople do all sorts of things; trading, eating, talking, laughing; things that you'll see in a typical town, makes me think that somehow, a bit of this craziness is normal. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it in a long burst of white mist, I begin studying the pathways of the small town. The main entrance is connected to the road where I came from, and it goes to the center where the monolith is. From there it branches to at least three more roads, two on opposing sides and one going through the town hall, which I figure extends farther, though I'm not sure how far. I can't determine the exact size of this town unless I climb a tree - a thought I shake off. Still, there's no higher ground than the hill I'm standing on, so I decide I need to get closer. My eyes then dart to the numerous alleyways between the houses. Those would be perfect spots to hide while I learn how things work here. If I'll be lucky again I can steal a thing or two from a passerby. I just need to be really careful not to draw attention to myself or else I'm better off as a boy frozen to death in the snow. "Help! Somebody!" A girl's voice. A young girl, east. Keeping my hood on, I sprint towards the sound, which came farther from the town. Passing through the shadows of the creepy trees, I arrive at a small lake surrounded by fruit-bearing shrubs with white leaves. A couple of lanterns hung on the branches, providing light around the area. As I hide again behind a tree, for the 'nth time' since I came here, I see a young Elf trembling, a fallen straw basket turned upside down lying near her feet. She has short, blond hair and wears a moss green cloak over her brown tunic. Berries of some sort are scattered on the ground, and as I look at them I notice that the girl's right foot is trapped between a raised part of the snow-faded soil, as if it magically came to life and clamped her limb in it. "Help! Please, somebody!" She begins to cry. I'm about to approach her when two figures leap from the branches of the tree parallel to where I am. For the 'nth time' again I am shocked of what I see: they look like Elves, but with grey skin and dark eyes. They seem to be the darker version, I suppose. Both are men and are carrying swords curved like fish hooks. They are wearing leather vests with buttons in the middle as opposed to wool, which the townspeople (and me) possess. "Ohooo-hoo. A fresh kill," says the one with dark hair reaching his shoulders. I can't help but to cringe at his shaky voice. "What do you have there, little Elf? Wandered too far from town?" "Please please. Let me go. I was just picking berries," begs the girl, trying to pull her foot away from the clamped soil using her hands. "You grow those berries yourself, don't you?" says the other dark Elf with a pointed chin. "We could've used someone like you." "No, please no." The young girl’s tears bathe her face now, a sign of her dread and nervousness. The two dark Elves walk towards the trapped Elf, laughing and swinging their hook swords wildly in the air to further scare her. As soon as they are a couple steps away from the panicking girl, I jump out of my hiding place and quickly unsheathe my batons, electrifying the long-haired one as soon as I reach them by surprise. A loud grunt is heard as the other dark Elf tumbles away from me. His companion lies knocked out on the snow-faded ground. "Vus servor!" the remaining dark Elf yells. He then stomps the soil with his boot, creating a small fissure that crawls towards me. I figure that whatever magical ability this is, it might be the same one that trapped the girl behind me. As soon as the crawling cracks are a couple of meters away, I gather my momentum and strike my sword to the ground, using it as a leverage to strike the dark Elf with my baton. I hit his chest, and we both fall to the ground with a hard thud. I immediately rise and walk towards my sword, which is now clamped between the solid soil. I try to pull it with all my might, but my young arms won’t let me, so I just leave it be. I then face the coughing dark Elf lying on the ground. He’s still shaking. He's groaning. When I'm a foot away from him, he looks at me with his light eyes. My hood doesn't cover my face anymore, it seems, as he appears shocked as he sees what I am. Or is it because he fears for his life? Nevertheless, I ready my batons and strike him on his chest. He yells in pain and lies with his back on the soil. He then passes out, his mouth still wide open. I walk towards the young Elf, who's trembling in fear. Her hazel-brown eyes are shaking as I approach her with my hands and clothes dusty and bruised. Halfway, I suddenly feel a burning pain on the left side of my body - my stomach. I look at it, only to see a horizontal wound that tears through the cloth, revealing my bleeding flesh seemingly covered in what seems to be dirty ash. I must have been slashed when I leaped at that dark Elf. I feel weakened, and my head starts to spin. I try to stand using my weapon as support, but slowly, my body turns heavier than it should be. I reach the young girl when I feel a sudden explosion inside my head. My eyes become the heaviest things, and I can only hear my body hit the ground as darkness takes the whole of me .. -End of Chapter 1: Arrival

[f1fteenreason5why-blog]

Module 8: Nightmares!

• Genre Fantasy

• Book Summary Charlie Laird experience the loss of his mother and is unable to cope with a reality without her. Charlie takes out his anger and frustration on his little brother Jack, his father, and his new stepmother; which he thinks is evil. As Charlie’s father, brother, and stepmother try to move on and be happy in a new house, he is stuck in the past. Every night, Charlie has nightmares about a witch trying to eat him, being chased in the woods, and evil monsters. When Charlie’s dreams start slipping into reality, he teams up with his friends to prove his stepmother is a witch and the cause for all the bad in his life. Once he discovers the portal between the Waking world and the Netherworld in his stepmother’s office, Charlie’s mind and body are stuck in the Netherworld and whatever happens to him there will happen in real life. When he realizes his stepmother was his mothers best friend, not a witch, and a genuinely good person, Charlie’s eyes are open to the real culprit; the principal. After putting his friends and classmate’s in a series of test that depict their worst nightmares, the kids persevere and save the town from the corrupt principal. Charlie finally learns that facing your fears is the only way to stop the nightmares, so he finally comes face to face with his nightmare, his mom! Once Charlie accepts that his mother is physically gone, yet her spirit will always be with him; he can join his family and friends on the path to happiness.

• APA Reference of Book Segel, J., & Miller, K. (2014). Nightmares!. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

• Impressions This book was filled with a creative mix of humor, horror, and humility. I couldn’t imagine my mom dying, at all, especially at such an early age, but as someone who has experienced ‘loss,’ I could relate to Charlie and his daily struggles of dealing with the mundane and his deep-rooted pain. Although he lashed out at his family and friends, he soon realized the severity of pain he causes others by looking at their dreams. This story, like many others, is a wonderful way to present loss and empathy, in a modest way, so that kids can take a step back and look at the whole picture of events happening, like Charlie did. The death of his mother took a great toll on him, but when his father remarries, Charlie is convinced she is evil. I think Charlie used his new stepmother as an excuse to be mad at life. Although it is in his head, Charlie believes everyone has forgotten his mother and that his stepmother is trying to replace her. We must remember the simply complicated minds of children and how they perceive the world through their adolescent minds. When Charlie finally accepts his mother’s death, he is freed from his fears of living life without her and can help his friends and town defeat the true evil.

• Professional Review When Charlie Laird's mom died, he was, of course, devastated, and he's devastated all over again when his dad marries Charlotte, the kooky herbalist with unruly red hair. After they all move to Charlotte's family home a spooky, purple mansion Charlie begins having terrible nightmares starring a cauldron-stirring, red-haired witch, and he starts believing that his stepmom is not who she seems. While investigating her workroom in the tower of the house, he stumbles through a portal into the Netherworld, a creepy, fractured version of his own town that's populated with elements from kids' nightmares, including bunnies with toothy jaws for faces and a fedora-wearing gorgon. There he discovers who's really behind his bad dreams as well as some secrets about not only Charlotte but also his own mother. Segel (of The Muppets movie) and Miller build an entertaining, cartoony world full of scary (but not too scary) monsters, silly jokes, plucky kid heroes, and a cinematic plot that trundles onward to a satisfying conclusion, with a promise of adventures to come. Final illustrations not seen.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist

• APA Reference of Professional Review Hunter, S. (2014, September 15). Booklist Online. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://www.booklistonline.com/Nightmares-Jason-Segel/pid=6870499

• Library Uses This book can be used as a great tool for kids who have experienced loss or are resistant to the inevitable changes around them. This book can also be a great guide for kids overcoming their fears.

• Read-a-likes 1) Legendtopia by Lee Bacon- Both titles share the genre of fantasy fiction and include the use of parallel universes. 2) The girl drank the moon by Kelly Regan Bamhill (2016)- These books share the theme of fantasy and the subject of witches. 3) Gossamer by Lois Lowry (2006)- Both titles focus on nightmares and fantasy fiction.

[fictionadventurer]

Top 5 unpublished stories (unfinished, in-progress, etc. yours or others' - things posted on tumblr fit, but not indie or traditional publishing)

To be clear, I’m limiting this to:

Works that have at least a partial scene drafted. If it exists only in outline or in idea form, it’s ineligible. There has to be some writing for me to reread and like.  

Stories that are not current WIPs.

So, in no particular order, here are five favorites that I’m fond of.

(Warning: Very Long Post)

1. Airship Sleeping Beauty.

In this world, parents buy fairy gifts for their children at birth. Most people are limited to two or three. Seraphina Crowne (please call her Sara) was gifted with twelve. Her impoverished parents had friends among fairy kind who were able to bend the rules to give this child enough gifts to survive in their harsh environment. Thus, Sara has everything from enhanced beauty and grace to strength and speed and musical skill, which makes her an unstoppable force of (super)nature. She loves a challenge and decides to support her parents by becoming a sailor on a flying sailing ship, where she rockets up through the ranks.

Our POV character is Jack Sanders, who serves under her as second lieutenant. Jack has spent years struggling through the ranks with only one unsuitable fairy gift. The father who chose his gift was an insomniac, and gave his son the gift of helping people fall asleep. Surrounded by people with more useful skills like strength or navigation, Jack languished as a midshipman for years until he served under a captain who realized the greater uses of his gift. Jack hates Seraphina Crowne, assuming that she’s the daughter of a rich man who has enough money to bend all the fairy gifting rules for his precious princess.

As they travel through a tropical land, they run into many adventures, and Jack starts to respect Sara. He learns that she comes from a much less privileged background than he’d assumed, and they slowly become friends. Then one day, they’re taking a day of shore leave on a flying island when they get into a fight with some local ruffians. Sara falls over the edge and is impaled on one of the metal spikes that serve as a barrier between the island and the open sky. But she doesn’t die. She climbs up with a gaping hole through her torso, and the should-be fatal wound heals within hours.

Sara is forced to tell Jack her greatest secret--she actually has a (highly illegal) thirteenth gift. Her mother’s greatest friend among fairy kind was a fairy who was banished from the guild for giving gifts that were too powerful. This fairy wanted to make absolutely certain that her friend couldn’t possibly lose this child at a young age. Her gift to Sara was that she would die by being pricked on the spindle of a spinning wheel--which means that nothing else can kill her. Not disease, injury, old age--she is invulnerable as long as she stays away from spinning wheels, which is easy to do in this industrialized age when your average person has never seen such a thing.  

Jack promises to keep Sara’s secret and they return to the ship. But Jack isn’t the only one who heard her confession. There’s a local airship pirate who supports his business by adopting infants and getting them the illegal fairy gift of being able to transform into birds. One of these bird-children also heard Sara’s story, and they inform their pirate father, who make plans to attack the ship and take out its most powerful asset.

I never finished the story because the climax falls apart. The pirates were going to attack and stab Sara, but Jack is able to stall her death by putting her to sleep--and I could never figure out a way to save Sara without it feeling cheap and predictable and/or detouring into a completely different plotline that takes us away from the story. But I think of the rest of it as one of the best fairy tale retellings I never wrote.

2. Faraway House

This one is my middle-grade portal fantasy for adults. Mara meets Adrian, a mysterious, magical man whose house sits in a space that connects to three different universes--ours, one that has a more medieval fairy tale vibe, and one that’s more steampunky and involves lots of chimeras and people with animal traits. People in need of help tend to fall into this in-between space, and Adrian lets them stay at Faraway House for as long as they need.

There are tons of characters who drop into this story and provide little subplots, but my favorite part was an overarching plotline involving Adrian and Mara. Adrian, who was originally from the fairy tale world, was the evil magician of every childhood nightmare, a powerful man who did all sorts of horrible things to people. He became obsessed with immortality and eventually got it--at a great price to the rest of the world and to himself. He was caught, stripped of a lot of power, and left to live his long life and see the consequences of his actions. He spent a few centuries wandering the three different worlds and undergoing a ton of character development. As a newly humbled man, he was given charge of Faraway House, since his magical talents would be valuable to keep the area and the portals stable. Now, he’s the nicest, sweetest guy you’d ever want to meet. He rarely tells anyone about his past, and most people wouldn’t believe it if you told them.

Anyhow, after Mara’s been staying at Faraway for a long time, she and Adrian go through a portal that links to Adrian’s home universe. They soon realize that it links to his world several centuries in the past, when Evil Adrian was at the height of his power. And he’s very interested in Mara, because her adventures in Faraway have given her some kind of magic that will help him reach the Well of Immortality (or something like that--it’s a very nebulous, fairy tale idea). Unfortunately, taking this magic will kill Mara, so Older Adrian does all he can to save Mara. He succeeds and gets her back home. But his younger self is still on the lookout for her, and he eventually makes his way to Faraway, where he drains the magic and escapes, leaving Mara dying.

And I know this is the most cliche way to end this, but I like my stories predictable and cheesy, and Older Adrian ends up saving Mara by giving up his immortality, which kills him. It’s all very Disney-moving. The story ends with Mara being made the new caretaker of Faraway. And I give away the ending because I’m never going to write this, but I’m still fonder of this story than it deserves.

3. The Island

Anne of Green Gables meets fairy tales.

The Island is a place full of magic. Amphibious mermaids swim along its shores. A fairy forest fills the heart of the Island. Selkie live on the tiny islands off its shore. Pixies cause trouble in the farmyard’s back garden. It’s amazing to the relatively low-magic areas of the rest of the world, but it’s all part of daily life to the farmers and fishermen who live here.

The Fairy’s Daughters, a retelling of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses”, had the most words written in it, but I think I’m fonder of some of the shorter sketches set a generation earlier that highlight little bits and pieces of the world. I started with the tale of Lizbet, an ordinary orphan girl living with her aunt who befriends Gideon, a half-fairy boy who eventually becomes the town’s magical doctor. Their friends include the widow lighthouse keeper who tries to adopt an orphan boy and is surprised to get Amy, who’s a girl--and a mermaid. There’s Captain Avery, a fierce-looking old sailor with a gentle heart and a surprising amount of experience with magical creatures. There’s Auberon, a fairy prince and eventually king who’s racist against humans, spends some of his younger years traveling in human lands to import human-made products, and becomes even more racist because of it.

I think my favorite thing in this universe are the sylphs. I borrowed Andersen’s idea of the “Daughters of the Air”, and made my sylphs into invisible, benevolent creatures who do good deeds for people, and can accomplish magical feats far beyond what any fairy can do. The sketch I reread most often is a scene where Amy, out for a swim in a storm, is rescued by a sylph who has taken a human (though translucent) form, and gets invited in for tea by Amy’s grateful friends.

It’s a fun universe to play in, but not one that I’m very good at finishing stories in, so I think it needs to stay as a pretty aesthetic and a fun sandbox.

4. Clever Anne

A retelling of “Kate Crackernuts” set in a non-magical Regency-esque setting. Anne is the beautiful, intelligent daughter of a duke. Kate is her bold, daring stepsister. They are deeply devoted to each other, but Kate’s mother hates Anne for being so much more beautiful than her daughter. She gets one of the servants to push Anne into the embers of the fire, leaving her face badly burned. Kate throws a veil over Anne’s face and gets her out of the house, insisting they’ll go off to make their fortune.

Anne was childhood friends with a young man who, through a convoluted succession crisis, unexpectedly finds himself on the throne. They stumble upon him in their travels, and find themselves able to help him by investigating the mysterious behavior of his half-brother, who resents that he was passed over for the throne and may be plotting something sinister. I was never able to figure out a good political-intrigue parallel to the “dancing all night with fairies” portion of the plot, so it never got written. The only really good scene I wrote from this story was the moment where Kate finds out about Anne’s injury and insists on leaving the house. But even in that one scene, their relationship is so strong and so vivid in my mind that I love their story even if I never finish it.

5. The Beast’s Mechanic

This is the one on the list that’s closest to being a WIP. I actually edited some of the beginning in March. It’s a sci-fi take on “Beauty and the Beast” set in a world where two planetary empires are at war. The war destroyed Monique’s father’s shipping business, forcing the whole family to move to a desert planet where they run a small spaceport. Monique is a top-notch mechanic, her sister Gemma is a pilot, Gemma’s twin Joanne stays at home to take care of the house and the two youngest siblings, and Leo is a seventeen-year-old rapscallion who is desperate to join the war as soon as possible.

Their world is upended when, for the first time in years, their mother wants to meet with them. A former starship captain, she and her husband disagreed over the war, and she left the family years ago to join the war effort. But now her starship is in for repairs and she wants to take some time to reconnect with her family. There’s some controversy among the family--do they really want to open these wounds again when they’ve finally moved on?--but Monique the peacemaker insists that, even though it’s impossible for the whole family to make the trip, her father should take the chance. He goes to meet his wife, but on the way there, his spaceship breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and he’s rescued by the Beast, an infamous cyborg outlaw. He also breaks important equipment on the Beast’s ship, and is only able to keep from being thrown out of the airlock by insisting that his daughter can fix it.

Monique nearly does, except that the authorities show up just before she’s done with repairs, forcing the Beast to take off with her in the ship. She comes to learn that the Beast is far from an evil criminal and has been helping people wronged by the government, and she helps him get home to his family (in the enemy empire), but her patriotic starship captain of a mother takes all of these events in very much the wrong light.

I’m very fond of this story for the ways that it avoids some of the usual BatB retelling tropes. There’s much more to this story than the romance, and little focus on the mystery of how the Beast became a Beast, and there’s much more focus on family. The Beast hasn’t even shown up yet, but I’m just incredibly fond of Monique’s family and their everyday working-class life on a desert planet. I hope I can make more progress on it someday.