#i've also had fun with the magic system because it's led to what i think is a pretty clever pseudo-curse word

[icwasher]

Writing Journal: 1/28/25

I finished the first chapter of my newest WIP, and I'm really excited about this one. I outlined all of it except a good portion of the middle, which will be a problem for future me since I know what happens in at least the first two/three chapters, and I can write those while I try to figure out all the political machinations that need to go in the middle.

Anyways, here's a portion of the first chapter.

“So,” says the dark blue-wearing Minister to the Green Minister, “what is this plan of yours?” “It’s less of a plan,” says the Green Minister, and the others eye him tiredly. I get the sense that this sort of thing happens rather often, “than an idea.” There’s a twinkle in his eyes, his crows' feet wrinkling with amusement. He is my favorite of the Ministers, almost certainly. “What we need is a Prince Ciro. He is of the same height and build. With a little Weaving to his face, he would be the perfect replacement.” The Ministers look at him like he is out of his mind. I am merely confused. What on earth do they need another Prince Ciro for?  Finally, the Orange Minister speaks up. He says, “Have you gone mad?”  Because I do not know what they are talking about, I cannot echo the sentiment, but I am sure I would be able to had I paid closer attention to their whispered conversation in the hall. As it is, I only look back and forth between the Green and Orange Ministers, who are now staring at each other as if they are engaged in some silent battle. I find the entire thing entertaining, especially when I look over at the other Ministers, who are watching the contest with looks that range from bemused to amused.  The Orange Minister breaks away first and I see the Green Minister smile triumphantly. “You have to admit,” he says, turning to the Head Minister, “that it is at least a halfway decent plan.” “If you mean putting a common thief on the throne the night before the Prince is to be crowned, then I am afraid I must disagree,” says the Head Minister.

[amberskywrites]

Hello! I return your STS-- I see that you do a lot of fanfic as well as original writing, which is awesome! Engage with what interests you! I wanted to know what your favorite part of worldbuilding was as well, and what worldbuilding is like in fanfic, if there's worldbuilding at all? I hope that doesn't sound rude, I just haven't really engaged with fanfiction on the writer or reader's end too terribly much, and on one hand, you would think the world is already established, but on the other, I feel like there have to be gaps you need to fill in sometimes? Thank you!

Thanks for returning the STS!!

So, first a disclaimer: I am still very new to worldbuilding! At least, worldbuilding in-depth. I used to just make sure I had basics figured out, enough for the story to progress, and then just figure things out as I went. Worldbuilding used to be super daunting to me 😅 and still is sometimes, I won't lie! But recently I've found myself really invested in it, and it's been a lot more fun than I could have imagined!

Alrighty, that outta the way...

A TL;CR as well because I kinda rambled on: favorite part of worldbuilding is magic systems and was the whole reason I began writing Not of This World. As for fanfics, I personally rarely worldbuild with the exception of my most beloved fic (by me. i adore writing this fic) Eternal, where I did quite a bit of worldbuilding especially where the magic system is concerned.

My favorite part of worldbuilding:

My favorite part of worldbuilding is definitely creating magic systems. I love writing high fantasy, and creating a system (or systems) of magic has always been a part of worldbuilding I've enjoyed, even when I was hesitant to do much worldbuilding. Usually, it's the magic systems that get me really invested in a world.

My current wip Not of This World began, really, with the initial thought of "what if magic physically manifested on a person?". Then it turned to considering what kinds of magic would have a physical manifestation, what those manifestations would look like, why would certain manifestations occur (arms vs legs vs hair vs eyes etc.), what are some kinds that wouldn't have much physical manifestation. This then led to considering, okay, what if people practiced more than one kind of magic? What would the consequences be? What would they look like then? And then as I started writing some characters, I also started considering would these characters feel pain when learning magic? Could this lead to these characters becoming disabled? How would they accommodate those disabilities in the world?

And I gotta say, exploring all that has been probably my favorite part of writing NoTW so far. I could talk all day about the magic system beyond like, the questions that led to my decisions, like full on just ramble about the answers to those questions and more, but I shall move on for now ^^

Worldbuilding in fanfics!

By the way, not rude at all to ask about this! Especially if fics aren't something you dabble in, I think it's really great that you asked, cause there are definitely differences I think! Personally, I don't worldbuild too much in my fics unless I am writing an AU and even then, it's still not often. Often I stick with the canon world, and only worldbuild if I am drastically changing the setting. (my awesome friend @hihopelessromantics does some fantastic worldbuilding for fics though!!)

I will talk about the one fic that I have done more worldbuilding than usual for though!! It's my darling child, Eternal. It's a canon rewrite and divergence of the anime/manga Nanatsu no Taizai (The Seven Deadly Sins). In a lot of aspects, I kept what was from the canon world, because I enjoyed how that world was already built. It was one of the things that drew me to the series originally on top of the potential the characters all had.

However, just because I liked most of what was in the world already does not mean I liked all of it. As you mentioned, there are definitely gaps in places, and in others, there are downright plotholes that, when planning a canon rewrite, just... gave me a headache if I'm honest. And then in some instances, I just outright did not like what was in canon.

Ironically, for me, this happened to be the magic system. Specifically how some characters were impacted by magic they either possessed naturally, were bestowed with by higher beings, or cursed with in some way. So, a lot of my worldbuilding for Eternal has focused on this, altering the magic system to make more sense to me but also, in my opinion, utilize potential that was not met in canon. Figuring out these aspects of worldbuilding genuinely makes ne super excited to write the fic, because I'm excited to share my twists with others and get their takes on it, and see how other's may like it compared to the familiar canon worldbuilding.

I think for me, I have two mindsets when it comes to worldbuilding: original fiction worldbuilding and fanfic worldbuilding. For the first, it's more of a sense of "What do I want to see/explore? How far can I take x concept and what would it then influence in culture, characters, and landscape?" For the latter, for me personally, it is very much a case of "What do I want to change?" And I'll admit, for fics? If I worldbuild too much/too far from the original world, I end up wanting to just turn it into an original story instead. That's how I got wips like You're Something Else and The Prince's Guard (which I still need to put info about here eventually lol).

Thank you again for sending the ask!!!

[artacetinker]

Uhhhh how am I doing this

Probably more then pics to go with

Yeah let's do that 👍

Here we go

It's set in the future, I haven't made a date yet but it's a work in progress like every thing else. It's far enough in the future that a bunch of cities have either grown or merged into a bunch of metropolitan cities all over earth. Obviously this means more power to keep them running hence there's I giant nuclear reactor in the middle of this one.

Having learnt from other accidents, they build the actual reactor bit with the radiation and stuff as realistically far underground as they can

But they apparently didn't learn and the reactor does a little Chornobyl

Now a little magic comes in and instead of killing everyone, it's stop the residents from physically aging

NO IT'S NOT REALISTIC IT'S A FANTASY UNIVERSE THAT MAKES ME HAPPY. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM RESPECTFULLY MOVE ALONG PLEASE!!

so the residents now have I minor form of basic immortality and this is just the prologue? Intro? Of this little universe

NOW

my world is set only a few years after, I'm thinking about 4-6 ish years. Adults are having fun and just currently finding ways to cure illnesses as the reactor obviously didn't stop them from getting sick. So that's going on and if the adults stopped, then the children have obviously not aged either.

Now kids will be kids.

They have basic wants, needs, desires etcetera etcetera and the government is the government. A bunch of assholes. They don't care about the kids and have kind of abandonded them at this point resulting in A LOT of children either in orphanages or simply on the streets, being uncared for, with only some lucky ones being able to stay with their families for a plethora of reasons I can't be asked to make or explain.

This has caused groups to form which I'll go into more detail about soon but the Metropolis has been divided into 4 groups, or sectors as they're called, each with a different characteristic

First we have the North sector also known as the Education sector

The East sector known as the Industrial sector

The South, known as the Leisure sector

And finally the West, commonly known as the trade sector

Each sector has a chosen leader or (in the West's case) group in charge

In charge of what?

Trading, gaining money, alliances, saftey and in general; caring for the children that make up their group or whatever

So far; North, south and east are represented with colours

North is gold

East is crimson

And South is a light purple and neon green (woooo Disney villain colours or whatever)

I haven't decided west yet, give me time

I've got a few basic ideas for the areas sorry if my handwriting is shit I'll type it aswell

It's not the best yet but I'm saving that for later

Anyway

The North sector- knowledge

The North is led by Amir, aged 15

He's half Syrian and is lucky to still live with his mother

Most educational systems are located here, mostly unis and colleges

Not too many children stay here as there are more adults up here than anything as the government is most notably located here aswell

It's seen as strict and formal and is represented with the mark of a golden quill because quills... Knowledge, you get the idea

Next

Sorry it's side ways, I'm not spoiling anything yet

The East sector- industrial

The East sector is led by the youngest leader, Irene, aged 14

She's 1/3 Japanese from her mother and 1/3 Greek from her father (weird combo I know makes it better)

Industrial was a friends suggestion because I had no other idea what to call it.

It has most of the cities seamstresses, blacksmiths (cuz cool ass weapons) and shops in general

Over here it's custom to wear animal themed masks (interpret this how you like just don't be an ass about it)

Some do it to hide identity, some do it as a form of identity (don't be an ass) but some do it as Irene wears one and they follow suit

Irene herself wears a lightweight deer make that shes decorated the Antlers with using various jewellery such as rings, bangle, bracelets, necklaces, small chains and earrings. This causes the mask to make small jingles (how tf do you describe jewellery sounds?) as she moves

This sector is represented with a mark of a crimson key (it's a mix of the Greek and Japanese symbol for power and I'm very happy with is :D)

Up next

The South sector- leisure

The South sector is led by Cael, our Irish little drawf (I made them ginger too cuz LEPRECHAUNZZ). They are (funnily enough) the second oldest leader at 16

This sector doesn't need to much explaining as people come here to relax, have fun, party, yadda yadda ya

(Shit I could have called it the recreation sector... Leisure sounds more right tho... Fuck)

This sectors group is known for being a wild bunch, with Cael gladly taking charge. Wearing a brightly colored assortment of clothes and styles, this lot are known to host 24/7 parties in many hidden clubs, nooks and crannies

This sector in general has most of the big ass multi story buildings in such a small space giving it a maze like feel with all the alleyways and such. A great place for unmonitered children to go nuts to their hearts desire

This lively bunch are represents with a Royal lotus, a symbol of relaxation and in my head cannon, refuge

And finally

Again sorry for it being sideways

The West sector- trade

Much like the south, this sector needs probably no explanation

Unlike the others, a group of friends leads the biggest sector of the Metropolis, all of them are Colombian so not only do they know their way around the city like the backs of their hands, they know a lot of people and can get away with shit a lot of other children cant

We have:

Carlos- the oldest of the bunch at 17, hes the strongman if the group

Next we have Gitana aged 16- she's the traveller (illeagally but thats not a problem)

Then we have Tayci and her twin brother Kaimi both at 15- Tayci is a silent runner with Kaimi being a perfect lookout for the group

There's a lot so buckle up

The West sector is by the shore, with most of the citys docks being located here with ships constantly moving in and out. This group was the first to form, having claimed most of the city and has used this to trade with the other sectors and a few smaller groups, overall earning the most income

Each member has used the docks to their advantage as well, having different roles allocated to them through their strengths in order to do so.

What is this may you ask?

Easy

Theft

They steal from boats coming into to the city in order to supply the rest of it in general. They group together with a bunch of other children and split up, collecting anything useful or I'm demand

Carlos is the oldest and strongest, being able to carry heavier crates

Tayci is quick and quiet, being able to zip around unnoticed

And Kaimi has some insane fucking vision, making him a perfect lookout from a high enough angle, using walkie talkies to guide the group undetected

Gitana's approach is a bit different and with Carlos's approval, has her own group of 8-11 that illeagally hop on the boats leaving the ports, travelling to other countries. Once over there they take anything that may not usually be imported over to the Metropolis and bring it home.

They do not currently have a symbol or colour but I'm thinking a grey one with Gitana's go up having a blue one to go with, the blue representing the water as they travel overseas

DONE

This was a lot to type, time to address stuff

Yes there are probably many faults in this which will be covered in posts to come, either on purpose or by coincidence

No I'm not giving too much info on the characters

HOWEVER

I have 2 designs which I might do like teasers or something for so anyone reading this isn't left in the dark for 2 spontaneous months (I need to get my shit together and be more consistent. I'm trying I swear)

Ive got some background for the South currently as it's so far the most visually pleasing to imagine for me and I may post either later or tomorrow depending on how quick I do my fucking homework

I'm trying to sort a lot of it out so it makes more sense

I hope anyone reading this is as excited as I am

I will post moths at some point but this has me hooked right now so I might do a huge art dump

Also next month I'm getting a iPad for me birthday 🥳🥳🥳 so I can finally do digital art so anything I post now shall hopefully be better quality

I will remind anyone probably closer to the date aswell

If you read this and am interested, please stay 🙏🙏🙏

I'm very passionate about this and if anyone at all enjoys it I'll be more than happy to continue

Thank you for reading this far

I admire your patience, willingness and overall generosity to listen to a yr 11 ramble about their passion project

[drifting-knightjar]

Warbreaker Book Review

(spoilers, obviously)

I have lately finished my fourth read of Warbreaker, and it's probably my least favorite of Sanderson's Cosmere books. I know it's a favorite of a lot of fans, and I fully expected to like it just as much as them but... I was disappointed.

To be clear, this is still a good book, I just like it less than the other Cosmere books. I'm mostly going to complain about what I didn't like because that's more fun to write about, but again, I did overall like the book. I'd give it a strong 6/10, and I have liked more upon every re-read. I think part of that is because once i had read it once, I knew what was coming, and so wasn't as easily bogged down in directionless boredom...which unfortunately is what happened to me the first time I read it.

This book has lots of strong points--the characters are wonderful, the worldbuilding is great, and the magic system is perhaps the most unique I've ever seen.

But the plot. Oh, the plot.

Nothing fucking happens for like the whole middle of the book! It was so frustrating! I really enjoyed living in its world, but every time I opened it up to hang out there, nothing was going on! All three main POVs--Lightsong, Vivenna, and Siri, spend almost the entire book at a total loss for what to do. There's no direction, no forward momentum, because all three of them don't know what they're doing.

It's like reading a mystery book where the detective, instead of going out and looking for clues, interviewing suspects, and putting the pieces together, just had chapter after chapter of him thinking to himself "Hm. Something's definitely going on here. But I don't know what and I don't know what I'm looking for. But I sure do need to solve the case."

Vivenna spends almost the whole book being led around by Denth, and we aren't even privy to the plans he tells her, so we don't have an opportunity to guess what's coming. Every Vivenna chapter is just "And here I am in (place) doing (thing) because Denth said it was a good idea. Also everyone here is a slut except me."

Lightsong is useless on purpose, which is very charming and I love him. But again, every Lightsong chapter is the same. "War might be coming. Maybe I will do something about it (does nothing about it). Also I hate being a god."

Siri is trapped in the palace, and her storyline is probably the best, because I at least got to watch her developing relationship with Susebron, which was adorable. And hey, forward momentum! But again, nothing comes of her chapters! She knows something is going on, but doesn't know what, and has no way to get information. She tries to get information, but the priests in the palace hold all the power and she never really gets around that.

It just feels like each POV character got one (1) opportunity to take an action that had an effect on the story. Vivenna went with Vasher. Siri talked to Susebron about...stuff? But nothing came of it, plot-wise. Lightsong had that one scene where he was a detective. And the rest was wheel spinning.

Think about it, if you removed all three main characters, the outcome would have been the same. Without Vivenna's meddling, Vasher's initial efforts would have been more successful and he wouldn't have needed her help to undo the damage. Without investigating, Lightsong still would have ended up in that basement to heal Susebron because he held the Lifeless codes from the very beginning. And if Siri hadn't been there, Susebron still would've been taken to that basement and healed by Lightsong. And he said from the very beginning he didn't want war with anyone, so once he got healed he would've ordered the stop of the Hallandren-Idris war regardless.

It feels like you could cut out half the book and it'd be the same. I don't think it's a coincidence that my favorite POV to read was the one that was the shortest and thus had the least bloat.

I understand that there are in-universe reasons why the characters do so little, and it doesn't have to be a bad thing, but when 100% of your main characters spend the story accomplishing almost nothing, while talking endlessly about how important it is that they accomplish things, it is extremely frustrating.

A book driven by characters instead of plot can still be good, of course, but so much focus and word count is spent on the plot and the intrigue of this book, and for nothing.

And now that I have done exactly what I am criticizing Sanderson for, i.e. reiterating the same thing over and over ad nauseum repetitively, I shall bid you farewell.

[goddevouringserpent]

1 and 2 for Nimka?

What is your Watcher's class? How does it relate to their backstory?

ooh, so Nimka's class is kind of a funny thing in that I've played her as… way, way too many things. (what can I say, the combat system is ridiculously fun so I really enjoy trying out new classes and multiclass combos.) not counting the attempts that never went anywhere—I vaguely remember some capital C Choices involving Barbarian—we have Cipher, Wizard/Monk, Wizard/Rogue and Druid/Rogue, with the latter being the only one that's "stuck" so far, because:

a) her size/build make it so that a fighting style that relies more on dexterity & guile works better than one that relies on sheer strength, and she can't always fall back on magic; b) I believe that most clans in the White that Wends would have a very strong druidic tradition, to which hers would be no exception, so she would have been trained in druidic/animist arts from a very early age, once it became apparent she hadn't inherited her mother's cipher abilities; c) I like to think that she learned her rogue skills during the PoE1-to-PoE2 timeskip, as a "know thy enemy" thing (need to watch out for assassins when you're the Lady of Caed Nua, and what better way to do that than by learning assassination methods yourself!)

so really it was kind of like… a domino effect thing, haha. things falling into place that made it so that Druid/Rogue worked out well for her, mechanically and thematically. might change somewhere down the line, but for the time being that's where she's at. and it helps that "Pathfinder" is also an excellent description of her!

What is your Watcher's disposition?

depends on the game! Benevolent is the only one that remains steadfast as one of her major dispositions through both PoE1 and PoE2, with Clever also making appearances here and there, but her personality changes a lot from one game to the other.

PoE1: Benevolent, Clever, Honest, Passionate. reflecting a Nimka who steadfastly clings to her values & morals, who refuses to be silenced or back down, but who is also… naïve, in a way? she has been travelling for most of her adult life, so it's not like she's sheltered, but she's just undergone a traumatic event and, alongside the pretty significant cultural shock & language barrier (her Aedyran is not as good as it is in PoE2), it can make her come across as tactless, or clueless, or lacking certain social skills, or unable to understand boundaries..., etc etc etc.

PoE2: Benevolent, Clever, Diplomatic, Rational, bits of Deceptive/Shady. being in charge of Caed Nua broke her spirit. she's in mourning, heavily heavily traumatised, struggling with so much survivor's guilt that she even feels guilty for being guilty—and that's just what happens post-Eothas Demolition Services, because really the things that led to her changing were part of a slow, years-long process as she tried to juggle the responsibility of Caed Nua (something she had neither wanted nor was prepared for), the newfound knowledge that the world Does Not work how she would like it to, the events of the past year which she is still trying to cope with to the best of her ability, the profound loneliness she feels even with Edér nearby in Dyrford, and so on and so forth. she essentially sheds a lot of her wide-eyed idealist spark and becomes way more efficient but also way more jaded. she's going through it 😔

[jenroses]

In the past 30 days: I came down with covid and the flu simultaneously Devoting all my executive function to taking covid/flu meds religiously on time led me to be late on my ongoing antiviral once, by 6 hours, so I had a brief flare of both shingles AND cold sores. They calmed back down once i got back on track. And now I have a bladder infection.

You would think, with my history (rheumatoid arthritis and resulting immune suppression and steroid-induced diabetes, asthma, obesity, physical and mental health issues, EDS, fibro, clotting disorders, etc.) that coming down with four viruses and a bacteria in this period of time would be horrible.

But you know what? Modern medicine is a good thing. Antivirals are a good thing. Antibiotics are amazing. I took ONE dose of the antibiotic and my symptoms for the UTI are already loads better. I got over the flu in THREE FUCKING DAYS. The flu used to take me out for 2 weeks, sometimes 3 if I got a secondary infection, and that was when I wasn't on immune suppressants. Tamiflu plus elderberry, taken soon after symptoms start, work like magic. Covid was minor. Yes, I know it's minor for a lot of people but with my risk factors? And getting it with the flu? I took an anti-covid antiviral, and of course was already taking elderberry for the flu. I have a few minor lingering issues but they're basically issues I already have, just kicked from a 6 to a 6.5, ish. Like I used to hate black pepper and then I learned to tolerate it and now I can't tolerate it again. That kind of thing. Sensory stuff is more brittle than it was, suboptimal pants are not an option. But seriously, shingles used to be a mandatory 6 week excruciating ordeal. I noticed the tingle-itch-prickle in that nerve, took my not-today-satan pills (famcyclovir) and it never really managed to get going. Cold sore was a specific prickle and a single small bump, never even scabbed. My kid was diagnosed with both flu and strep today, and he's not very sick either, and I don't even have to get swabbed for strep because the UTI drug will also treat strep. (Cefdinir)

I caught Covid 2 weeks after the bivalent shot, went off my immune suppressing drug, and kicked it to the curb with the help of targeted meds and a little herbal knowledge. I've been miserable for days with this UTI and finally got the executive function to get us to the doctor and boom, better.

I am begging you. If you get sick, and you know you're sick, if you can, get tested quickly and treated quickly. Tamiflu is supposed to cut hours off the flu, but in my experience combined with elderberry, it has taken a 14 day illness and turned it into a 3 day illness, several times now. I've never had a flu shot. (I don't object to them in principle, but my body can have garbage reactions to immune provocation and by the time Covid happened the tamiflu/elderberry=3 days sick thing made the flu shot moot for me. The math on Covid works out well in favor of the covid shot.)

There's no benefit in suffering. Especially with Covid and the flu, which mutate constantly and can bork your immune system permanently (see: triggers for autoimmunity. I have 6 autoimmune conditions, fun times.) Covid, especially, can target the cells which remember Covid. Kick it to the curb, kick it hard, kick it fast, use the tools we have.

I didn't even catch bronchitis from all this, and I ALWAYS used to catch bronchitis. because CPAP.

FWIW elderberry also helps the immune system clear out post-vaccine yuck faster. Without, I had inflammatory flares for a month. A dose ended that cycle. Next immunizations I took elderberry sooner and didn't have anywhere near as bad a time. (It is not "just" an "immune booster", it specifically promotes the production/function of tumor necrosis factor and this makes it specifically good for things like influenza.) My reaction to the bivalent shot was a sore arm for a day and then a couple days of local pain. A minor RA flare, short lived, not severe.

Anyway. Wear a mask. Get your shots. If you get sick, have them swab you for both flu and covid, not just one or the other, and strep too, if you're getting a sore throat, because we are past the days of one or the other. Get the antivirals and take as directed. Hydrate. Rest, and rest an extra day on top of it, more if you can, to give your body a chance to really kick it all the way. Use the tools available to you.

[kingdoms-and-empires]

Hello! I was wondering, what have been some of the most interesting/surprising facts that you’ve learnt during your research for k&e??

Oh shit. This is a great freaking question dude/dudette!!!!

Well, I've had to get some books to research on some stuff surrounding medieval and ancient life. This of course not just EUROPEAN knowledge, but other parts of the world, specifically asia due to the empire being modelled more closely to the imperial dynasties back then.

Considering the education stats and what may be done by the MC with their modern knowledge, i have to find a balance between fantastical yet believable, and the "bruh gtfoh theres no way." A great anime/manga that tries to do this is Dr. Stone, and has been a lil nudge of inspiration in bringing modern ideas to this new world.

But I have to be careful to not rush technology so quickly or else the fantasy/medieval elements will quickly be thrown out the window. Hence my decision to not incorporate gunpowder into the world yet. It would quickly turn into cannons, pike and shot, shooting lines, and take out the close hand combat magic of medieval warfare in media. Entertainment is tricky business. My example is the Fable series:

It went from fantasy medieval adventure (Fable 1) to industrial age complete with soldiers wearing redcoats lol (Fable 3). With Fable 3, the fans became disillusioned with the series and felt they lost the magic of the earlier titles. The creators themselves admit this as being a mistake because they went "too far in the timeline."

With that understood, I focused on learning more stuff about what ancient humanity has been able to do in the past that we totally take for granted today, such as the Dujiangyan irrigation system that was creat 2000 years ago and is still in use today in China!!!! (public work undertaking MC goes brrrr) I also researched way WAY too deep on things some people may consider "boring" or "unsexy" such as daily lives of ancient soldiers or citizens, what they wore, what they used, how they had fun, etc.

For a recent example that led to discussion on Discord:

I learned about the very real concern of soldiers and sailors needing to vent sexual frustration hence why sexual assaults was so feared (and expected by commanders) in coastal cities or town and population centers with high military presence. Which is why some commanders or mayors would buy the services of every sex worker available to attend to their sailors or soldiers' needs. This made me go:

This then led me down a rabbit hole of looking deeper into sex work in ancient times and learning it was a tool of public and army control! Then i had to research about sex work in ancient asia due to the inspiration of the empire being Chinese. BRO IT WAS COMPLEX! There were different levels and standings in China for this line of work. The highest was the Yiji comparable to the Japanese Oiran which can be seen in the latest season of Demon Slayer. From a fellow tumblr user, @fuckyeahchinesemyths says:

They had to be able to do one or a few of these things well:

write poetry

cook well

design clothes

tell fortunes

dance

sing

And this all made me think of the possible ways this can get into the story! Information broking, blackmail, tax revenue, even using sex workers as SPECIAL FORCES AS THE ROMANS DID WITH THE CARTHAGINIANS!!!! Basically the story goes as Rome getting its butt kicked by Hannibal, and to gain more time creating a new army, they sent out a shit ton of prostitutes to slow down the Carthaginian army and it WORKED...the fact that Romans generally distaste giving women credit for anything, and considered prostitutes to be of low social standing, this story has some weight to be considered possibly true since they even wrote about it.

I know I barely answered your question, but the research i do is rabbit hole after rabbit hole in trying to make a fleshed out world that can use the education stats effectively and entertaining. I learned way way too much about things i didn't think i would every need to know lmao

[wondereads]

Personal Review (12/12/21)

Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift

Why am I reviewing this book?

I actually meant to review this one a few weeks ago—I can't believe I forgot, especially when I enjoyed it so much! I've had some time to think about this one, so my opinion has changed in some places.

Plot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Adraa and Jatin are two royal heirs betrothed to one another that also find each other incredibly annoying. They haven't seen each other since childhood, but their rivalry is kept alive through letters. However, recently, Adraa has discovered corruption in her country, and a case of mistaken identity leads to her and Jatin teaming up to uncover a conspiracy.

The plot was a little typical for YA, but there were certain things that made it stand out. For example, the combined underground conspiracy, Adraa's upcoming test, and the emotional turmoil combined kept the plot moving. Also, the worldbuilding was done pretty well, and the magic system intrigued me. The addition of Adraa's firelight also added some personal investment for the characters. I do wish the plotlines of "Adraa" and "Jaya" had interacted more.

Despite it being similar to other YA books, I did not know what was being led up to until the very end. I had a general idea, but the plot twist did ultimately take me by surprise. I think it was a good case of keeping the reader in the dark without having revelations pop out of nowhere.

Characters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I liked Adraa and Jatin. They were both fairly well-constructed characters, and I was always rooting for them. Neither were annoying, which, in first-person YA novels, is always the hardest to overcome. They were both way more similar than either of them thought, which I think made their romance believable. They both deal with an immense amount of pressure from their position, and it's clear their investigation alleviates some of that for them since they are both action-oriented people. They are both a bit awkward, as is expected for teenagers.

As for the romance, I found it very sweet. The only issue I had with it was it did come dangerously close to insta-love in some places. Luckily, it managed to avoid that for the most part, and I got some lovely pining to read about. The eventual reveal of their identities was handled well, particularly in the fact that they didn't cause a lot of drama because of it, which would've irked me. They handle it very maturely, thank goodness.

I do wish the side characters had gotten more development. I liked the side characters, especially the family members of both Adraa and Jatin, but they got very little time and attention. Maybe that's something for book two.

Writing Style 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The writing style threw me off a little bit because of how modern it sounded. Cast in Firelight is set in a high fantasy world, so the very modern tone most people had was a bit weird. There's nothing terribly egregious, like pop culture references or modern slang, but, especially the way Adraa and Jatin think, it felt more like teenagers from today than heirs to fantastical kingdoms.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

I did really like this book, and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel. However, while I initially rated it a 9, as I think more about it I'm bringing it down to an 8. This is mostly because the impact it had on me faded after a little while. I still like the characters and find the plot very engaging, it just doesn't seem amazing like before. Still, I cannot wait to read Bound by Firelight! Check this book out for a fun, YA fantasy set in a unique magical world.

The Author

Dana Swift: American, this is her debut novel (congratulations!)

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every two weeks, sometimes once a week, usually over vacations. I take recommendations! Check out my about me post for more!

[limetameta]

i got a review on Retired Promtheus that was like: if there weren't any humor in this fic, nobody would be able to stomach the content.

and truer words have not been said! it is an incredibly heavy fic, detailing the trauma of tom marvolo riddle, generational trauma of the malfoy family, hermione's trauma surrounding her integration into magical society and what that meant for her parents and the muggle side of her life, dumbledore's trauma surrounding his sister and how his inability to move on from gellert grindelwald ultimately led to him projecting all of his trauma onto tom riddle, and then on top of that - POLITICS. Nobby Leach's terrible demise and subsequent beginning of the civil war. The implications a Muggleborn Minister for Magic winning and leading a country steeped in blood purism and in which way any integration of muggle holidays would lead to backlash from the purebloods who think that every push for cultural integration means cultural erasure for them.

This fic can get super heavy. I had to take major hiatuses between chapters because I was feeling the weight of them.

And then you have a chapter where Hogwarts kids make a play about world events and make fun of it how only teenagers can. You have moments of levity where I allow all of these characters to feel human with their own inside jokes and their own views on the world. This is a small, very tight knight group of people where everyone knows everyone's business. Having grown up in a similar environment I know exactly how to write it. There is gossip, there is a charming amount of despisal between these characters that only you can have for your own neighbour. Ugh, the prick.

I gave the fucking Dementors a hierarchy system. Jerry the Dementor (or is it Jerri, I forget I know there's a joke about it somewhere in those 420 000 words) likes to paint and doesn't want to suck out souls - oh the agony of this poor friend-shaped dementor!

And while you need to wade through the trauma of everyone involved, this is a fic about healing. There is a happy ending. That was something I set off to do from the beginning. I didn't know how to get to that happy ending or that this fic was going to grow to be so monstrously large, but without the humor i put into this fic, it wouldn't be what it is. It would be a chore to read. It would be depressing and that's not what fics are meant to be.

there have been numerous tragedies happen in my country in the span of the last 40 years (hell even for the past 500 years), my culture depends upon the ability to joke about these things otherwise we never would have moved on. if it's felt in my fics that i want to give the same dose of respect to tragedy by writing dark humor then i've done my job right. then it's a fic worth reading.

and humor can be so bad, can be turned upside down on its head so quickly. if done without the respect humor is due.

i think it's the reason why i love retired Prometheus so much. because the humor is so important for the tragedy of the lives of these characters and that were i to take the humor out, i would be left with just - some disgusting blob of darkness i'd need to poke with a stick until my arm fell off.

also i mean my sense of humor is rad as hell.

[magicalhideoutengineer]

FILMSTARTS: First of all, tell us a little bit what has changed for your character Tina Goldstein in the six months that lie between the storyline of the first and the second film ...

Katherine Waterston: Tina has gotten back her old job and has been working as an Auror for a while now. She has found her way back, and in the first film it looked quite different. At the beginning she was quite haunted by bad luck, but now everything has settled again and so she also has a little more self-confidence. She is in Paris, where we meet her at the beginning of the film. And what else has changed? She is wearing a really cool coat now!

FILMSTARTS: In "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", Tina had a very special relationship with Credence, played by Ezra Miller. Will that be the same in the second movie?

Katherine Waterston : Yes, their special relationship continues. Tina is enthusiastic about her work and does it very thoroughly, but she has, as we already know from the first film, an Achilles Heel: If she sees someone, especially a young person, in need, she just has to help. She throws all the rules overboard. Maybe that's because she had to take care of her sister Queenie early on as a kind of parent replacement. This has made her receptive to the concerns and needs of young people. And in the second film this comes to fruition, which is almost a kind of obsession with credence. She feels responsible for him.

FILMSTARTS: In the first movie we did not learn much about Tina and Queenie's background story. We know that her parents died early and they are very close. Will we now learn more about the history of the Goldsteins and the school days of the sisters in Ilvermorny?

Katherine Waterston: Oh, I know so much about it! I know so much and I can not tell you! Only so much: Yes, at some point you will learn more, but it may not be in this movie. But the relationship between the sisters will be important in this film as well, and there will be some surprising new elements that play a role in this particular relationship. And at some point, you may also see a young Tina, just as there will be a young Newt in "Fantastic Beasts 2".

FILMSTARTS: Hm, so it does not go so well with you and children. How about Tina and animals? Does she get on with the magical beasts a little better than in the first film?

Katherine Waterston: Newt really opened Tina's eyes to the beauty of these beasts in the first movie. So far, as an Auror, she has not had much to do with them, especially in America, where contact with these creatures is strictly regulated. They are considered dangerous. So when Tina discovers how intriguing these animals are in reality, she begins to realize she may need to question the authorities a bit more than before. At the beginning of the first film, she deals with them in a completely different way. She is simply scared, intimidated by their presence. Now that's really different. There's so much to discover about these animals. They are such great beings. It's fun to play someone who likes to surround themselves with the beasts.

FILMSTARTS: In the first part, Tina was obviously the character who adhered the most to the rules. But in the end she had to watch an authority figure who she had trusted turn into a masked Grindelwald. What after effects does it have on her that she found out?

Katherine Waterston: This is very similar to the beasts where she realizes that they are not as dangerous as they would have her believe. And somehow she also felt betrayed by the Aurors, who attacked Credence in the end, although of course they could not have known better. But they did not listen to her. All these things have led to her feeling that the system can have its faults. She is of course still a civil servant and she appreciates the work she does and considers it important. But maybe now she often questions the leaders and makes her own decisions. This is an interesting aspect of her: On the one hand, she loves her work, but on the other hand, she is willing to become apostate when it's worth it.

FILMSTARTS: So did it feel like you were playing another character this time?

Katherine Waterston : No, the difference is not that drastic. That was all in her, even in the first film. We met her in the first movie when she was having a difficult phase in her life. But before that she was already a capable Auror and you can not become an Auror without being a really good witch. You have to be smart and strong and prudent. So these things have always been in her and in the first movie there were also brief moments where one got an idea of all her abilities, but then someone misunderstood her again or something went awry and she promptly became unsure. But even if she sometimes did not believe in herself, she always had those strengths. And that's why it does not feel schizophrenic to me that she's so different in the sequel. The character is just developing and growing and that's something great. I've never had the experience to return to a character, I've never starred in a television series or anything. So it's fascinating to spend so much time with a character, get to know her better and see her grow. It's almost like being a real person [laughs].

FILMSTARTS: You could design your own wands? How cool is that!

Katherine Waterston : Yes, so we could at least choose from a few options. And then we did the finetuning. I chose the simplest and then asked to make it heavier. They then used a metal rod. Before that, it just did not feel real enough.

FILMSTARTS: And what would you change if you had the opportunity again?

Katherine Waterston: Hm, that would be kind of interesting if the design of the wand evolved with its owner. But maybe it's a good thing that it always stays the same and reminds you where you're from and who you really are. And mine is just plain and practical and robust, I like that. Tina is just not a dazzling, flashy, girlish woman and a good, solid wand without frills fits her. 

FILMSTARTS: But not only Tina herself has changed in the second film, her environment is different: she is now traveling in Europe. How does that affect you? Because in the first part she was in New York, yes on home territory. Is it difficult for her to be in another country and to get in contact with other magical communities?

Katherine Waterston : I think because she has now regained her self-confidence, she does not find that too difficult. She is, so to speak, "fully functional" and copes well. Actually, it would be interesting if she would get the just punishment for her bossy behavior towards Newt in New York and step into Paris in some faux pas by perhaps doing something insulting to the French by mistake. But I think you will not see that. And that the action takes place in different places with different cultures, but has a wonderful message. We are more connected than we are.

FILMSTARTS: And maybe in the city of love, will she relax a little? In the first part she was a very stiff person, only in the scene with Gnarlark, when she attended a bar in evening wear, she seemed to thaw a bit. Does she even have a little free time in Paris?

Katherine Waterston : Oh yes, she just chills, she chills all the time in a Parisian cafe ... [laughs] No, the situation is pretty serious in this movie, so she does not have time to put her feet up. But J.K. Rowling writes so many wonderful facets for her characters, so we'll see Tina in very different ways: we see her self-confidently and how she takes command. We see her overwhelmed and bumping around to get everything done. We see her vulnerable and generous. So there is a lot to do for me. But she will not chill ...

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Seiyuu have a propensity of doing things on their birthdays. For female seiyuu, a lot of them announce marriages (especially on their 30th birthdays or birthdays in their 30s). So I'm not surprised that he would release a mini-album then. Not to mention, he's also their songwriter (can't remember whether it was lyrics, composition, or both).

I only hear about how mid and mediocre Black Clover is. Maybe I'll check it out eventually as a sort of mindless thing. I know the dub actors for Asta and Noelle are married which I find cute as heck.

I have had my fair share of stinkers when watching anime based on seiyuu. For one, I accidentally watched a hentai once and a bunch of ecchi that the anime site overlooked under its rating system.

I've listened to a few Sir Vanity songs. I think they're alright! For one, I noticed this recently with Umehara's vocals, the vibrato can be a bit shaky sometimes, but that's such a hard skill that most musicians have trouble with (it's also not all of the time but just certain parts of certain songs). I know Makoto Furukawa has the same deal going on. Even some of my favourite singers have trouble with vibrato, heck, I have trouble with vibrato as a string instrument player.

I'll probably end up checking out both Revenger, Why Raeliana Ended up in the Duke's Mansion, and probably even Spy Classroom (even though what I've read has led me to believe it's just Yozakura Family but with cute girls instead). Funny how Claus (Umehara's character) only chooses female spies haha (seriously, what is the reasoning for that? Seems pretty suspicious if you ask me). Spy Classroom has a lot of really popular female seiyuu too who I also watch in a ton of stuff (it has been Tomori Kusonoki's time).

I did end up watching that magical boy anime with the pink wombat. It was certainly a time. My favourite gag (considering the anime was not as funny as some people made it out to be) was the fact that they keep the corpse of their teacher with them, and everyone just kind of assumes that it's okay even though he starts going into rigor mortis. Also, the number of legendary veteran seiyuu they roped into playing cheap villains (not saying that's a bad thing) every week is absolutely astounding (it's not Kimetsu no Yaiba where they have a famous magazine backing it). Considering that some of the main cast were rookies, it must've been fun and nerve-wracking for them.

I'm just going to link some videos underneath (excluding the ones you've referenced in previous posts). -> I can't wait to see how many of these are struck down by the copyright gods.

((Don't ask me how long it took me to compile. The power of nakama (t/n: friendship) is what powered this.))

Poor Yui Ogura having to listen to Yoshitsugu Matsuoka's trauma as a teenager then having to listen to Umehara's... whatever you want to call it. She has a female idol image to protect, Umehara!

They've worked together many times.

True love is where the money is at.

I... honestly don't have a comment on this one because co-ed schools are so common that it's weird if you went to a school that was segregated.

Umehara Yuuichiro made a comment on radio along the lines of "I am grateful to my fans but I only do fanservice because my managers tell me I have to. When I see others performing fanservice I can't really relate." Umehara received a lot of backlash, particularly for implying that actors that do excessive fanservice are sellouts only doing it for money/attention. - Person on Reddit -> Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of fanservice because it makes me cringe more than anything else.

I love how much he sucks at some of these games.

This one is somewhat tame and maybe even a little boring. There's a part-two that isn't translated, but long story short, they play a game and end up finishing with a tie (with each winning one round). This was quite a while ago, so Gakuto wasn't as developed in terms of hosting (but I agree with Umehara, it's commendable that he wants to make friends).

The non-subtitled zone:

That time that everyone went to Umehara's house

That one time he was tasked with interviewing a small child (don't worry, he was nice)

That time he overslept and didn't show up to record the radio (Kotaro Nishiyama had a pretty good impression of him) -> Shout out to his manager who had to go to his house and drag him out.

There are other things that I couldn't fit in here since... well.. I also watch a lot of seiyuu content. I understand bits and pieces of Japanese, so I am able to understand a good... 20% of Japanese subtitled radio segments.

I'm actually writing this post specifically for @deepwoodenheart because they followed my main (nsisbest385) and were not a porn blog. Thanks! They've recently expressed an interest in Yuichiro Umehara (a voice actor), and @msyuksanh is his number one fan who is the one who actually introduced me to this specific voice actor. Since I watch a ton of anime (an unhealthy amount), I will be running through some of the stuff I have watched (and some stuff I haven't). Some of these are just to make fun of these anime, but I don't fault any seiyuu for taking a bad role because you do what you need to to make that bread 🍞

His list of roles is big but not as big as some other voice actors, so I was able to go through which ones I had watched or heard of quite quickly. He has made some random appearances in other anime that I've watched where I went "Huh, definitely know this guy from somewhere" like Fire Force, Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, and Kaguya-sama.

Note: I haven't watched Jojo Part 6 yet or that parody magic anime with the wombat. The anime will go in no specific order, but it generally goes from "good" to "mediocre" to "these anime can go suck cheese" with anything below the "keep reading" being literal trash-tier anime. There's also some missing stuff, especially in terms of idol anime because I haven't watched those and don't plan on it for now. From looking at the cast list, I think his major idol roles are in Magic Kyun, Tsukipro, Ensemble Stars, and Idolmaster SideM (regular Idolmaster is for female idols).

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

I was talking to a friend of mine recently when we went Christmas shopping, and when he saw this manga he went, "I didn't like that one." I personally did like this one. His complaint was that too much time was given to the secondary love interest. Umehara plays a supporting (but recurring) character.

((This scene still makes me laugh to this day. Kaori Nazuka was really funny here.))

Fruits Basket (remake)

Okay, Umehara admittedly barely shows up in this one, but people should watch Fruits Basket no matter who they are. It's good for the soul. That is all.

((It took me so long to find a fricking gif of this bir-- guy.))

Romantic Killer

Anyone who reads this or anyone who has Netflix should go watch this.

((Kabe-down))

Tenchi Souzou Design-bu

This anime is surprisingly not directly creationism, but it sure comes close! As a biology major, this anime was pretty neat, but some of it made me go, "What am I watching anyway?" I'm not an ecology specialist though, so maybe this makes more sense to others. His character is a supporting character, but he has some funny bits.

((He also gets to rap in this role, so that was kind of funny. My other favourite lines are "Wow, Mercury is dead!" and "WOO! SAIKOU NI COOL!!!"))

SSSS.Dynazenon

This one was not nearly as good as Gridman which was already divisive in the mecha community (that I'm not a part of). I heard from others that it was enjoyable, but I personally thought it was a bit of a bore. Props to the casting director for getting Chika Anzai and her cousin Junya Enoki. There are some subbed radio segments that are funny too.

((Also, this is the first anime I watched where he was cast as an ugly adult. Ain't nobody falling for kinoko hair over here. He has also played a piece of sperm, but I digress.))

Dame x Prince

This anime was built for cringe, and it succeeds at cringe. But because it embraces the cringe, it unironically becomes one of the better anime adaptations of an otome game which is like saying you're the tallest dwarf of the seven dwarfs. It also gave a long-running radio with Kaito Ishikawa and Soma Saito.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul

I genuinely remember so little about this anime that I went to go watch clips to refresh my memory, and this anime wasn't even bad. It was mediocre, but for something based off a card game, they did really well. I actually watched this for Sumire Morohoshi and her bubbly character Nina. This is technically a sequel, so you'd need to watch the previous one to fully understand it. Oddly enough, I didn't know the first season was a romance until some characters kissed.

Gakuen Babysitters

This one was essentially built to be a comfort watch. It works at what it wants to do, but I don't like kids. The ending theme is cute, but Nishiyama looked way more into it (Umehara was there to get paid).

Shinchou Yuusha

I personally thought this anime was gonna be a Konosuba, and it kind of was, but it was far more palatable for me (I was not able to make it through Konosuba and will try again at a later date). Aki Toyosaki carries 99% of the comedy in this anime.

((That slime never did anything to youuuuuuu)

Orenchi no Furo Jijou

Fun fact: I watched this before knowing what a shounen ai was! I saw the shounen part and went "Oh, so my demographic" watched it, came out, and went "What. Was. That?!" I don't remember a whole ton about it, but I don't remember it being horrendous. It's just some mermaid in a bathtub. I think this was his debut role, and he does play a main character.

Juuni Taisen

This is probably in a similar boat as Tenkuu Shinpan (later in the list). It's just a bloodbath of an anime, but I will give it credit that it has fanservice for both sides (they sexualize men and women). Anyways, it has a stacked seiyuu cast for something that is so incredibly mediocre.

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai

He had to be replaced partway through due to his acute immune disease. However, I think he recorded it in post-production. Either way, it's a supporting character in an anime that I think wasn't worth the watch besides the banger of an opening. Masayoshi Ohishi has a knack for writing openings for romcoms (he likes romcoms himself).

((He's the glasses guy))

Tenkuu Shinpan

I kinda want to watch this one just to turn off my brain and watch some Battle Royale-style gore.

((That character looks sick.))

Darling in the Franxx

Apparently, you're supposed to watch the first 12 episodes then dip, but come on, when the mechas are built like that, I'm not touching that thing. Even though it has Haruka Tomatsu and one of her most famous characters, I'm not watching it.

((It took me over 100 gifs to find one with Gorou in them despite typing in "Gorou Darling in the Franxx", and he is part of the main cast.))

Goblin Slayer

You know, for such an edgy first episode, this series is so mid at the genre it tries to take on after. Umehara said himself, "He doesn't really say much of importance." This anime has sexual violence (and it's explicit), and it's not even good.

Plunderer

I haven't watched this one, but he does star alongside his bandmate Yoshiki Nakajima. Both of them have been in better anime that is certainly not this one. I even read a chapter or two of the manga when it first started airing and went, "They're really making that, huh?"

((He forgot one streak of hair when dyeing it haha))

Kabuki-bu!

I couldn't make it through three episodes, but maybe I'll try again-- actually, no I won't.

Uchitama

Hmm... I haven't watched this one. It's not hard to see why, but basically, I have not reached that level of degeneracy, and if I do, someone should put me out of my misery.

Senjuushi

Fun fact: This anime is so bad that it has a rating similar to Boku no P-- I'm not finishing that title. I obviously didn't watch this one.

Makura no Danshi

I didn't watch this one, but I saw a video on it and was near tears from laughter and despair because there's no fricking way someone made an anime about this concept AND got Masayoshi Ohishi to write an OP for it. This is the stupidest thing I've seen in a while, and just being close to it made me even more embarrassed that I watch anime. I also listened to Masayoshi's version of the OP before I knew what it was connected to or how to understand some words in Japanese. After learning its association, I was legally obligated to take that song off my playlist.

[taz-writes]

Damn, Feilan is one of the only fantasy stories I've seen which takes place in a planet in a galaxy which is acknowledged, that's one of the coolest WIP things ever. How was the galaxy and all the planets and Illiginia specifically formed? You mentioned the Cataclysm in the oceans ask, is that related to the world formation? What are the Ages of the planet, was there an extinction in any of them? Sorry for the questions the whole galaxy thing is just an awesome concept I'd love to hear more

Fair warning, this is gonna be long. 

The galaxy was formed the way most galaxies are, probably, with the guidance of Nafia--the ‘ultra-god’ of the universe, basically. You have the Four acting as gods of Iliginia specifically, and Nafia is more of a universal deity, whose power and behaviors are more similar to a Christian-esque Eternal God Figure. She tends to act slowly and gradually, and she ‘guides’ the creation of new things by accelerating and motivating what we would recognize as astrophysics and all that good stuff. 

Iliginia was her first real creation, and she built the galaxy and large chunks of the universe out from there, so you could almost say that Feilan is the center of the universe. Except it still rotates around a star like most normal planets do, so it’s not really. It’s just a planet, Nafia shaped it out of stardust, watched it grow and coalesce over millions of years, time isn’t a thing for her the way it is for mortals or even the Four! Though it’s said that she used to be much more active... in modern times on the planet, her name is everywhere but she’s not worshipped nearly as much as the Four, because she’s just not there. People say she spends her time on the Isle (Feilan’s afterlife) and that’s why she doesn’t play with mortal affairs, though goodness knows that hasn’t stopped the Four. Honestly, my theory is that Nafia created the Four not only for company but so she’d have help managing the absolute shitshow Iliginia turned into. She could leave them back on Iliginia to clean up mortal messes and keep them from blowing up the universe, and go on to make more planets and do more things elsewhere. It... uh, yeah, that backfired. The Four are not always helpful. 

The Cataclysm was one of the major shake-up events in Iliginia’s history that divides up their Ages. Feilan’s history, when written out, is generally divided into four Ages. They’re named after the four magical elements, but also after what causes them to end, which is my dumb little private easter egg. OFC the Age of Darkness is wrong now because I made the evil stuff pale instead years ago but Who Cares Anyways?

The Age of Light: The first era. Nobody knows anything about this, because it’s said to be the beginning of civilization and life. Faiana was Queen of Feilan at this time, until she gave up the throne around the time of the white flash at the start of history. This was the event that caused the change of recorded Ages. Nobody has any historical record of anything before the flash, or any evidence that civilization and society even existed before it. This is a big question mark for EVERYONE. The white flash is generally said to be the beginning of the world as we know it. 

The Age of Storm: Not much information survived about this one either, but we know stuff about how it ended, which is better than anything before the white flash. It started with the Great Storm: a period of brutal weather and icy cold that lasted for a few hundred years, and tore apart what was left of any social structure from the Age of Light. Feilan was a much bigger country than it is now, and its new rulers (Faiana’s descendants, the del Aphir family, then spelled del Afiri) had no fucking clue what they were doing. Faiana left them with zero instructions and zero guidance and then vanished without being seen again for hundreds of years. Things started to fall apart, this was a very messy time with a lot of indistinct wars that never went anywhere or changed much. The Irkatzi emerged shortly after the Great Storm ended and conquered a ton of stuff, creating the Empire of Karatza and picking fights with Feilan constantly. The human nations were victims to all of this, the mersprites got shit dumped in their territory, it was stupid and obnoxious and it lasted a hell of a long time. Eventually, things calmed down... and then a big fucking storm rolled up. 

The Cataclysm was the event that ended the Age of Storm and led into the Age of Illusion. It was a major disaster and apocalyptic near-miss caused by the Ravenharts (then called Rhevyanars, before it got... feyicized? like anglicized but into not-English) and del Aphirs having an unmitigated shitshow magic-flexing contest all over the continent of Againia. As the story goes it was romantically fueled: the younger sister of the Irkatzi Empress had a crush on the del Aphir king but he wound up dating her twin brother. So she tried to kill the king on the wedding day, and inadvertently created a massive natural disaster. Volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, literally just think of any stupid weather thing that could happen and it probably happened. Listhana was her name, but it just means ‘lightning’ in Ancient Feian so it’s probably just a posthumous nickname. She was a powerful electropsychic, meaning she had Storm/Illusion magic kicked up to peak potential threat level, and she was quite literally strong enough to toss around hurricanes and make volcanoes erupt under her own power. Don’t fuck with electropsychics out of Harmonine’s direct lineage, kiddos, they’re OP as FUCK. 

Somehow, the King and prince survived this, because the del Aphir line did continue. Nobody has any clue how that happened, because like I said, Listhana was OP. 

Between Listhana, the del Aphir king, and all the other third parties dragged into the conflict, they sunk half the country beneath the sea, froze up the top of the continent, and just generally made a big stupid mess. Modern historians know more about this shitshow than the white flash or the Age of Light, by a long shot, but historians in Feilan still suck.

History picks up properly with the Age of Illusion: the Age before the modern one, and the one Sayara’s read about the most. The early Age of Illusion was mostly spent dealing with the aftermath of the Age of Storm. Feilan rebuilt itself into the modern 12-tribe system, more or less--the Irkatzi were still independent and fighting, and there were a few more small fringe tribes along the edges--and society got onto a relatively even keel. Nothing interesting really happened in this one. The Irkatzi had a bunch of stupid border wars with Feilan’s Ajrijl tribe, set up trade relations with two other continents, and chilled. Marazzia decided after the Cataclysm to take its intervention politics seriously, and they made a big difference re: enforcing peace. Everything was fine until the FOE showed up. 

The Age of Darkness is the modern age. It started with Calama’s War, which has like twelve different narratives depending on who you ask. Sayara’s got an obsession bordering on special interest territory, she’ll tell you all about it. TLDR; there were two del Aphir princesses, Calama and Cyrenna. Calama, the heiress, did something and got infected by paleness. This was the first time the FOE reared his dumbass head in Feilan. Under his influence, Callie tore a bloody streak through the country, sabotaging her own nation while also actively hunting the Irkatzi with an unprecedented fervor. She was a powerful Light fairy, who also had the legendary bow Starshard in her possession, and she was damn near unstoppable. 

Cyrenna was her younger sister, who fled for her life at the beginning but then got forced to step up to the plate and clean up Callie’s mess. Cy wound up finding Stormcleaver, Kariel’s legendary axe, and facing down against her sister to defeat the paleness and kick the FOE out of Feilan. There were a bunch of other people involved, the Irkatzi had a ton of internal drama, but that’s the general gist of it. At the end of Calama’s War, the Irkatzi had been decimated, and were forced to merge with Feilan for the sake of their society’s survival. Part of this deal stipulates that should the del Aphir line ever end, then the surviving Ravenhart will take over the throne of Feilan at large, since the Ravenharts are the only other established godly lineage. Hence the title Crown Princess for the newly-demoted ex-Empress. 

Calama’s War is pretty relevant to the plot, since their still-mostly-mysterious method of destroying paleness is the only reference anyone’s got for dealing with the FOE. Also, various Ravenharts do talk a lot about killing Kyrina and claiming the throne, since it technically would be their right in that situation...... historically this only hasn’t happened because the Irkatzi are too busy having stupid squabbles with the Ajrijl or fighting amongst themselves to wonder if it would be fun to have an empire again. 

So yeah, those are the Ages. I rambled on a lot but I swear this is relevant. 

There was, in fact, an extinction event in the far reaches of ancient Feian history. I will not say anything more about this event than what I’ve already mentioned in early posts on this blog: there used to be a fourth sapient race on Iliginia, called shrians. They don’t exist anymore, they were all annihilated before history began. Nobody knows they ever existed to begin with. Any ruins of their society that may have survived were destroyed in the Cataclysm.