#its my favorite fantasy world building element!!!

[backhurtyy]

i am once again asking people to put whales in space. specifically whale sharks. and make their spots glow. they're stars. that move. do you understand.

[jean0farc]

#!! - 𝑰𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑪𝑹𝑰𝑴𝑺𝑶𝑵 𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑬𝑵 — 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 ; ᴄᴏʀᴏɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴅᴀʏ

(Cross-posted from my AO3)

CHAPTER ONE - CHAPTER TWO - CHAPTER THREE

𝖌𝖊𝖓𝖗𝖊: smut.

𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖌: Griffith X You (fem! Reader)

𝖘𝖞𝖓𝖔𝖕𝖘𝖎𝖘:

Having been spoiled by your father as an only child after your mother’s death, there existed you, a young, yet rebellious maiden known amongst Midland as Princess Scarlet. Being the subject of envy by commoners who wanted nothing more than to overthrow the kingdom, you were rather…..indifferent. As a princess, you exercised pride in your achievements, deeming you fit for the role of succeeding your father on the throne.

Even after your father’s death caused by poisoning, your dream to have your own kingdom never faltered in the slightest. In fact, ruling over Midland with an iron fist has been made easy and simple considering your royal blood.

Subsequently, your ambitious demeanor and philosophy attracted none other than the military genius who led a group of mercenaries known as the Band of The Hawk. Sir Griffith; a man who never fell short of what were to be defined as a noble, if it were not for his common blood.

To put it simply, Griffith never planned on building his empire overnight. Instead, he harbored ulterior motives where he would rather…..bend you, the Queen, to his liking before taking over Midland.

….And the consequences of YOU having a fragile ego never ceased to reveal itself.

𝖈𝖜: none as of now.

𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗’𝖘 𝕹𝖔𝖙𝖊:

No smut for the first chapter!

To minors: this space isn’t for you. Berserk is a warning in itself. Go away. Do not interact.

Anyways, I’m back with a new fic and it’s basically my own version while still keeping the canon verse of Berserk clear.

In this verse, expect certain things:

— Princess Charlotte does NOT exist.

— YOU are the Princess/Queen of Midland.

— The story will mainly focus on Griffith, not Guts.

Before commenting, I would like to caution you for potential rape/non-con elements (it’s Griffith we’re talking about here) to be depicted in later chapters of the story.

What I write is pure fantasy, and is mostly just me projecting on my original character (in this case, Queen Scarlet) who has a rather peculiar relationship with Griffith.

Anyways, grab some popcorn, and chill a little while we watch our original character slowly get taken advantage of by the devil himself.

The Kingdom of Midland. Such is a name given to the central region of the Physical World where nobles dominate and savages eliminate. One had the luxury of resting within the comfort of their own home while dining with only the finest cuisine made known to man. The other had to hustle and kill for the sake of money and survival…....while for potential evildoers and traitors, the sake of achieving their dream.

It was your coronation day after all, one of the most awaited events in all of Midland’s history. Following your father’s death caused by an incident of poisoning, the nobles immediately turn to you as a successor to the throne. You were a bit nervous, so to speak, but ready to accept your new role and give your speech as the newly appointed ruler of Midland.

It was already sunset, the halls decorated with red roses, bushes, and your favorite type of flower, the Amaryllis. You just loved the sight of red the way you liked your tea. Red, so to speak, was your favorite color. It just looks and feels powerful, like the way sunlight pierces its way through your eyes. You liked shoving your presence down people’s throats, to make them remember your name as you rejoiced in your own superiority as the new Queen.

Red was the visual embodiment of your dream—to rule and render yourself capable of building your own empire. Because of that, the King, your very own father, feared for your safety. And boy, was that prediction true.

Not only was your safety compromised, but prior to meeting the White Hawk who was addressed as Sir Griffith, things went downhill after that encounter as a sudden number of royal guards dropped dead. Not only were you disgusted by the smell of blood that filled the hallways the week before your coronation, but the five words whispered to your ear was what sent chills across your spine. Those five words made you shiver in questionable fear despite you taking it as just an empty threat.

“You belong to me, Princess.”

And then came the surge of mysterious events such as your father’s death.

Supposedly, you were expected to be excited for such an event like the coronation ceremony as you longed all your life to become Queen, but something about the whole situation didn’t feel right. You were at a loss for words, being unable to understand why your father was poisoned in an instant and how planning the ceremony felt rushed.

You shivered at the thought of meeting the Band of the Hawk once more, immediately suspecting that one of them killed your father.

“Our beloved guests, our crowning guests, respected parents of the nobles, and that of the civilians. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.” announced the event speaker of the ceremony. “Once again, we have gathered here to witness the coronation ceremony of the Royal Family to be headed by Queen Scarlet and the rest of the officials appointed to serve her Majesty. Kindly rise for the ceremony proper.”

A huge audience of youngsters stood to give thanks towards your family for a job well done in leadership, singing songs of praise as time passed by. You were, of course, getting quite the goosebumps knowing your time is up as a princess. However, you can’t help but falter, thinking of your father’s untimely demise just about two weeks ago.

You were lost in thought, unable to pay attention to the songs sung in honor of you. Something was very wrong. You sweat and panted hard, not because you didn’t know what to say or do given the situation, but because you didn’t want to actually meet up with Griffith and the rest of his comrades due to some suspicions about the leader’s motives.

“Before we start, may I request everyone to observe silence as the ceremony begins to maintain its solemnity. Reserve your ‘hoorays’ for the latter part of the coronation. Thank you very much for your full cooperation.”

The rest of the coronation ceremony followed. You were nervous, biting your nails as you slowly prepared your speech in front of thousands. You knew Griffith would be watching

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Alas, it was your turn to give out a speech that serves as a public declaration of your aims, intentions, and actions to be taken to further improve the economic and sociocultural growth of Midland.

Standing up, you could feel the eyes of crowds searching you from head to toe, but none of them ever gave you the impression that someone was truly watching you.

At the exterior of the venue, there sneaked a young man with white, flowing hair and a pair of blue eyes. It was him. Griffith. He didn’t make his own presence clear before you, he covered his tracks very well. But, little did he know, you could peek at his silhouette from afar. Knowing he made his way past the guards with extreme caution showed his prowess in strategy and disarming opponents with great ease.

Yes, he just wanted to hear your speech. After all, knowing how someone would open up about a fraction of their lives would be crucial in undergoing one’s plan to achieving their dreams, yes?

This was your moment. You let out a deep breath and spoke clearly as you cleared your throat.

“Greetings, my beloved fellowmen. It’s been a pleasure having to meet with you all to this very moment.” you greeted the audience with a friendly, approachable tone. “Throughout this memorable day, I was able to discern all your prayers dedicated to me and my family, especially in honor of my father’s passing. As an inherent successor to the throne, I have maintained a significant awareness through the years that my people, spread far and wide throughout every continent and ocean in the world, were united to support me in the task to which I have now been dedicated with such solemnity.”

The muffled voice of your speech was rendered audible to Griffith from the outskirts of the palace. He was perhaps….fascinated by your rather….pushy attitude on things. It didn’t take long before he palmed the area between his hips, hiding such an unsightly appearance as he began to fantasize about you under his control. He wanted nothing more than to dissect you in every detail possible, to know your deepest fears and motives of having to rule such a flawed kingdom. But little did you know, was that he wanted this kingdom all to himself.

“The ceremonies you have seen today are ancient, but some of their origins are hidden in the mists of the past. Their spirit and meaning still rise from the flames of finiteness. Perhaps, they still shine more brightly than we’ve expected them to do so. I have pledged allegiance with all my heart that I shall lead this kingdom, uplifting it further to claiming a thousand more victories than you would ever anticipate. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”

Griffith’s eyes narrowed as he hid behind the doors alongside the two guards who were apparently slain before they could even fight back.

He wanted you.

And there was nothing more satisfying than breaking one of the strongest, most powerful women who once took an interest in the art of swordsmanship. But he would rather not challenge you to a duel; not because he underestimated your capabilities, but because he saw such barbaric acts to be unbefitting of a lady with high status.

An hour later, trumpets played as the Grim Reapers of the Battlefield were to be promoted as bodyguards, yes, bodyguards, of your kingdom. The King trusted you to this group of mercenaries who promised nothing short of protecting your integrity and wellbeing as the princess. But one thing’s for sure, it’s that their leader was bound to be missing.

You stepped down from the stage to observe your audience for any problems which may arise from the White Hawk’s absence.

“Wait, where’s Griffith? But he was just here about minutes ago!” Rickert exclaimed. “He can’t just be wandering out in the open like this! Griffith! Hang in there! We’re on our way!”

“Cut the crap.” Guts said, alerting his fellow comrades. “There must be a way to proceed with the ceremony without Griffith being of any concern.”

“But Guts-”

Recognizing and appreciating your bodyguards (or perhaps, some new friends) wasn’t all that bad. Perhaps you were intimidated by some of the mercenaries, but they played an integral part of your big day.

It was only one moment within that band that spooked you, it was the White Hawk revealing himself—it was Griffith. By that moment when Griffith claimed you to be his, you began to not take those words lightly and managed to develop a slight sense of fear. What did he exactly mean by that?

You brushed off your thoughts on the matter and shook hands with nearly all the members, with Griffith being an exception (obviously). Rumor has it that he’s still hiding where the sun doesn’t shine, covering his tracks in order to reveal himself before you in the very end.

And God forbid what kind of plans he had for you that night.

[entropyvoid]

Honestly with all the overlap between sci-fi and fantasy fans, I’m really surprised that “high fantasy in space” isn’t more of a thing.

There are some things generally assumed by most to be sci-fi that I’d personally label space fantasy, like Star Wars, where the high tech is just there as a backdrop to a classic heroic story of good guys vs. bad guys, who are definitely doing magic (by using the force). The point of Star Wars isn’t the tech or anything, it just happens to be a tale told in space. It contrasts pretty starkly with something like Star Trek, where the vast majority of episodes revolve around exploring whatever scientific or philosophical concept the writers thought would be kinda neat that week, using established characters as a vehicle for said exploration.

I think one of my favorite things about Honkai Star Rail is that it freely and unabashedly mixes sci-fi and fantasy. It just goes “You are a walking neutron bomb. Also turns out your bestie is from a self-reincarnating race of dragon people with powerful water and illusion magic. They live on this big, planet-sized ship that’s dedicated to hunting down this one cosmic horror that cursed all the ship’s inhabitants with immortality, under the banner of this other cosmic horror that exists solely to kill the first cosmic horror. Let’s go on vacation to the theme park planet, the actual resort is technically an Alice-in-Wonderland style dream triggered by the same kinda cosmic-horror-gifted bomb as you. Your new friend is a meme. By the way, did we tell you about the one time this super-genius harnessed the power of *imagination* to build a death ray that instantly obliterated a bunch of planets? That was kinda fucked up, huh.” Sometimes Star Rail tries to give explanations for its tech in a way that seems believably sciencey. Sometimes shit’s just straight up called magic or it’s from some deity or another and none of the characters present have a good understanding of why, so you all just go about your bullshit. It makes it work within the context of its established universe.

Cosmic horror in general is often (but not always) found in sci-fi, but where the point of sci-fi is to expand on and detail a concept in a believably scientific way or explore the impacts of a scientific thing, the point of cosmic horror is that there is a Thing that is beyond human understanding or comprehension. Sci-fi is a fun thing to insert it into, because the more scientifically sensible and well-understood elements of the world you have, the more jarring that becomes.

Then you’ve got things like Dungeon Meshi, which exists in an inverse of something like Star Rail: it takes a very Tolkien-inspired Dungeons and Dragons-esque setting, and then details it in a very scientifically sensible way. There is magic, and there are these fantastical monsters, yes, but the monsters are parts of their own delicate and intricate ecosystems, they are edible, and they have very particular nutritional values and ways you can cook them! The protag’s biggest strength lies in him being a nerd about monster biology. Magic, too, by the end of it, ends up with a plausible enough explanation as well. And the explanation is a cosmic horror! In this way, Dungeon Meshi, despite being built entirely off of very easily recognizable and classic fantasy tropes, is probably more accurately classed as sci-fi.

I just love all of it. Can I get like 50 more of these fucked up lil mixtures of science and magic please?

[tyrantisterror]

Fantastic Rants and Where to Find Them

So, back when the Herbie Porber movies were still being made, Warner Brothers saw the cash cow on their hands and decided they had to lock that shit down as much as possible to make sure they could milk it until its teats were chafed and withered to nothing. To that end, they bought the rights to every book the Terf Queen had written by that point - which included all the Henry Pansley wizard school mystery books, but also two gag books set within the Henry Pansley world: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was presented as an in-universe biology textbook for wizard children, and Quidditch Through the Ages, which was an in-universe book of trivia for a fake magical sport.

And at the time everyone with a brain who'd read those two books was shaking their head and thinking how dumb those corporate executives were to do that because, like, those aren't novels or novelas or short stories or narratives of any kind. They are, and I cannot stress this enough, a fake textbook and a fake trivia book about fake things written in a slapdash manner as a cheap gag. They existed for three reasons:

First, to sell something Herbie Porber related at a significantly lower price point than the actual novels so the Terf Queen could get more of that sweet, sweet Scholastic Book Fair money by having something poor kids could buy.

Second, to give a portion of the proceeds raised from that poor kid book fair money to charity so the Terf Queen could get some nice tax writeoffs.

And as a distant third, to expand the world-building of the Henry Pansley setting a teensie bit.

Now, as far as I'm aware, they succeeded at the first two well enough - tons of kids bought those cheap-ass thin as shit paperbacks when I was a kid, myself among them. Well, ok, I only bought Fantastic Beasts and skipped Quidditch because even during the height of my Herbie Porber fan days I thought the Terf Queen's imaginary sport was really fucking stupid and every time it popped up in the books I was bored as shit and tried to skim it as quickly as possible to get to the interesting stuff. I think I looked over the book once in a Barnes and Noble and thought, "Wow, I knew I thought real sports were boring as shit, but it turns out fake ones are even more so."

But back on track - goal number three was... kind of successful, I guess? Like, I don't know if you know this, but bestiaries of fictional animals are one of my big interests. I love a big book of made up creatures, and have collected many in my long life of thirty-four years. And as I said, I got a copy of Fantastic Beasts - technically several, because those cheap ass paperbacks disintegrated if you read them more than once, and I haven't met a bestiary that I haven't poured over several times, no matter how shitty. And despite how often I read it, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was, well... pretty mid, honestly. It's a book that's 99% world-building, and like all of the Terf Queen's world-building, it's overall mediocre and undercooked.

Like, in pure Herbie Porber style, it's mostly concepts that have been done in fantasy fiction and mythology dozens of times before with no real original spin on them whatsoever, often stripped down to their most recognizable elements alone. There are a smattering of original ideas that are actually interesting an novel, a few more original ideas that have potential but don't seem very well-thought out as is, and then some that are clearly just there to be a joke and are amusing for, like, a second, but also would quickly become annoying if they were given any focus.

I'll give a very me-specific example. As a fan of vaguely medieval european fantasy tropes, one of the metrics by which I judge a bestiary is "How does this handle dragons?" Because, like, I don't know if you know this, but I love dragons a lot, and the sheer variety of dragons in fiction is one of my favorite things in the world. There is a smorgasbord of different dragons a person can choose from just in folklore and mythology alone, and that variety is reflected in a given bestiary, the higher I think of it.

The Terf Queen's bestiary gives us ten dragon breeds... and they're all more or less the same except for scale color and minor variations in size. Oh, and their names, which are all based on different dog breeds because the Terf Queen thought that was funny. It's the worst of both worlds because it gets your dragon-loving hopes up that there'll be lots of unique dragons but no, they're just different colors, ho hum. Even the Chinese Dragon sticks to the same basic bitch wyvern body plan as the rest, when, you know, Chinese dragons have SUCH a different body plan than any of their European counterparts. It's downright insulting to the variety and creativity of this iconic folkloric archetype to reduce it to such a samey-set of monsters. Absolutely the most disappointing dragon entry in any bestiary I've ever read, just infuriating.

BUT, BACK ON THE INCREASINGLY DERAILED TRACK: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was never meant to be a "great" book. Remember goals one and two: it was a cheap cashgrab, a gimmick, a gag book. It was meant to be a disposable bit of fun - "Tee hee, here's a goofy textbook from this goofy wizard story that you kids will likely grow out of in a few years, you can read it in twenty minutes and not feel bad when you pitch it because there's very little substance to it, and it only costs three bucks."

The Terf Queen doesn't write textbooks, gag or otherwise, she writes novels, narratives, and in its original form Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was clearly just her fucking around with something whimsical and stupid for shits and giggles (and money, sweet sweet money). The original version of it was published with notes in the margin written by Henry Pansley and Donnie Stoat themselves, the two wizard hooligans writing little jokes and messages to each other with further references to other characters from the series, both to add more humor and because, again, the Terf Queen writes novels, and it was clear she couldn't commit to the "fake textbook" bit without working in some characters riffing it for her own sanity. And that makes it work as a gag book - you get a few laughs from the wizard hooligans playing MST3K with their shitty textbook, learn a little about the (undercooked and poorly thought out) ecosystem of the wizardy world, and then when you reach the back cover the spine of your cheap as shit pulp paperback book falls apart and, unless you've got a weird obsession with bestiaries, you throw the dying book in the garbage without a second thought. Three bucks spent well enough.

BUT, TO GET BACK ON THE INCREASINGLY DERAILED TRACK AGAIN: Warner Brothers bought the rights to this cheapo cashgrab gag textbook, and goddamn it, they were/are determined to squeeze Herby Porber's sore teats until every last drop of money milk spills from his chapped and bleeding nipples. They announced they were going to make a Fantastic Beasts movie towards the end of making the Herby Porber novels into films, and everyone with a brain sat there and thought, "Well, that's going to be a stupid cashgrab. Bet the Terf Queen's laughing her ass off at how dumb it'll be, too."

But the Terf Queen was not laughing, at least not for long, for once the Henry Pansley movies wrapped up, she was left with the horrifying knowledge that people didn't care for her non-wizard books all that much, certainly not enough to keep her rolling in sweet, sweet money. She needed that mega millionaire cash, and she needed it in abundance and she needed it quick. So when Warner Brothers asked her to write a movie based on her cheapo cashgrab gag textbook, she said, "Yeah, I can make a novel out of that! I - I'm a talented writer! People love my writing! They definitely love my writing and they'd love to pay money for things I wrote that don't directly feature Henry Pansley!"

So now she had to pretend that Fantastic Beasts, the cheapo cashgrab gag textbook about made up animals in a made up world, has a narrative. Not just any narrative, but a grand, sprawling narrative, one to rival, nay, SURPASS Herbie Porbie and the Seven Books of Wizard-Themed Coming of Age Nonsense. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, she assured us, was to be a magnificant tale, and one she planned all along, and CERTAINLY not a marriage of convenience to a completely stupid idea for a film that she was desperately sculpting into a narrative it had no ability to support for the sake of trying to recapture her already passed glory days as a writer.

And I think, in retrospect, this is a great illustration of the Terf Queen's great character flaw. She just can't fucking admit to a mistake, even when it's obvious to everyone that one was made. She will hop on board a sinking ship and keep doubling down on trying to get it to sail even as the water is up to her neck. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a serious narrative now, not a gag textbook written to wring a few more dollars from school children goddammit!

Recent editions of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took out the Herbie and Donnie commentary, by the by. They also added many of the new half-baked monsters that were introduced in the movies, in a shoddy attempt to pretend this was the plan all along, and that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was always meant to be the seed of something great.

But it wasn't, and no matter how hard the Terf Queen pretends otherwise, it's obvious it wasn't. It's a cheapo cashgrab gag textbook, and that's all it really had to be, until greed and ego demanded otherwise.

[ariellewm]

WIP Fantasy Novel - Character Profile: Czar Agskaga

!! Note: Please do not use my character or the art of the character for roleplaying (with the exception for Ycey Narrates and Wyyvernn) or fanfiction. This OC is very precious to me and only will allow others I know close to either roleplay, write, or draw him. !!

"If you find trouble sssleeping, you know where to find me." - Czar Agskaga from "Coils of the Naga" Part 1

Full Name: Prince Czar Agskaga

Aliases/Other Titles: His Illustrious Eminence, Master Maji of Fire, Keeper of the Sacred Amber Lilies, Prince of Rubies

Gender: Male

Race: Naga

Age: 41 (26 in sapien years appearance (human))

Height: 6’2 (187cm) Stranding / 22’ (670cm) Long

Eye Color: Crimson Red

Hair Color: Onyx, long length

Skin: Tanned with dark red/black/gold scales under eyes, upper neck/shoulder area. Arms fade into black

Tail: Black with golden and red "saddle" patterns that fades ruby red on the belly

About/Backstory

Czar is the first-born child of King Voskai and Queen Kaatrisa Agskaga. He was named after a powerful dragon, Szarrak, that lived alongside the Agskaga’s many centuries ago. His nesti (family) are a highly respected royal line of Naga’s/Nagi’s that dates to Draca Isla Pyramis, an ancient place where they and Dragon’s thrived before its doom. They are known for their amber lilies, a precious flower that holds healing properties and other usages.

The young prince usually finds himself relaxing among the trees (what little was on the isle he calls home), hidden away with a book in hand. When not reading or learning about legends and histories of old, he likes being at gatherings in the company of others (especially with the sapien women). He delights in showcasing his fire majic (magic) abilites as well as helping those stressed or lacking sleep through his hypnosis abilites.

With the unfortunate death of both parent’s during his teen years, he is the last of his reign to bare his father’s name and to the throne. In the meantime his uncle on his father's side has taken over responsibilities until his nephew is ready (which he isn't quite ready to take over the throne just yet).

Personality

Many have mistaken his kind as evilly sadistic. Not all are that way…at least from Czar’s point of view. Czar can be seen as an intimidating, mysterious royal at first glance. He shows his true self in his knowledge and interest about the world. Czar enjoys discussing legends of old and Zarth’s history with company.

The royal can be quite talkative at gala’s and other large speical occasions. There are times, however, he’d rather be alone in his study. Raised with good manners and always seems to be well-adjusted for a Naga, he still dabbles in his mischievous teasing ways.

Of all the Naga’s/Nagi’s that possess the ability of hypnosis, Szar despises those that use it for merciless, heartless purposes. He would rather use his ability to help those in need. Czar asks for consent for this reason, to make sure they feel safe with the charming prince that he is. Sometimes through his flirtation and teasing ways, it had always worked on the ladies he fancies…at times.

Abilities/Majic Status

Hypnosis – A unique ability that causes those to be in a state of consciousness and have them voluntarily lose action. Not many have this ability. Czar is the first in many centuries of his nesti to possess such ability, though he rarely ever uses it. (His eyes glow, like looking into a roaring fire).

Fire Maji – He can conjure, manipulate, and inflict damage through the element of fire and heat. Czar’s favorite ability is breathing out fire like those of dragons and conjuring a fire like whip. The crystal embedded within his left palm is oval red. *More information TBA*

Constriction – Like those of serpents large and small, his long body can wrap around enemies and tightly squeeze the life out of them. He also can climb up trees or buildings if nessesary.

Heightened Senses – As a Naga he has an excellent scent and eyesight compared to other races of Zarth.  

Wardrobe Appearance

The Naga likes to show off his prized gold and rubies he has collected over the years. At times he wears his medium golden collar with rubies mixed with teal crystals. Along his arms he wears golden arm and wrist bands. He tends to wear two rings, both of which belonged to his parents. One is crimson red with gold and the other is teal with gold. He wears them on his right hand: one on his index and the other on his ring finger. On the other hand, he wears a golden serpent ring on his ring finger.

Upon his head he is sometimes seen wearing a gold circlet crown the small design of Agskaga’s amber lily symbol at the center.

He likes his selection of clothing soft and light. A lot of his fabrics are made of the finest silk and cotton on Zarth. Czar prefers to wear reds, blacks, yellows, oranges, whites and even just a little hint of teal in his fabrics. The prince often wears open shirts, long sleeve or short, attached with silky long or medium length drapes behind the back or to the side with beautiful intricate patterns (mostly floral, serpent, etc.). Along his hips he tends to wear a golden belt (large enough to cover his lower region) with chains and jewels.

When not seen around the public or with other nobility, Czar likes to be shirtless. Czar still wears his usual jewelry such as his arms bands, rings and the belt.

His long onyx hair is sometimes tied up as a loose ponytail with the front tied in a topknot. Some strains of his long hair still show on the side of his face when tied up. A lot of the times, however, his hair is usually down. Sometimes he will allow females (those that he fancies) to braid one strain of his hair. Many have complimented on how silky his hair is, given that he uses the best shampoos. Many ladies have described the smell of rose and lavender.

Weapons

The Naga often not carries weaponry around with him. Since he is a Fire Maji and uses majic, he doesn’t necessarily have any use for actual weapons. He has been trained though with using whips, swords, and daggers at his nesti’s palace. So if need be, he can easily pick up a sword while still performing fire majic on his enemies to protect the people he cares about.

Audio Roleplay/Stories

"Coils Of The Naga" Produced and Voiced by Ycey Narrates

"Coils of the Naga Part 2" Produced and Voiced by Ycey Narrates

"Coiled By The Naga" Produced and Voiced by Ycey Narrates (Bonus Audio through Patreon)

Modern Headcanon: Mr. Czar Agskaga

SFW Naga Hypnosis Headcanon

Czar's Holiday Story

SFW OC's Valentine's Day Headcanons Special

Summertime with the OC's

Coils of the Naga Part 2: Palace Courtyard Scene

Physical Appearance Concept Art/Gallery

Credit art goes to @wyyvernn More artwork of Czar HERE!

Inspired Spotify Playlist: Czar Agskaga Playlist

Inspired YouTube Playlist: Prince Czar Agskaga's Playlist

[mdhwrites]

You said before that Boiling Isles is basically our world but with more teeth, it's flat and flawed, also because there's tech in there despite already having magic that could do the same job. So I was wondering.

What would've made the world building more interesting? Or what Bl should've got rid of to not make it a copy pasted version of our world?

The short answer to this is that I don't really know. I will talk a LOT about why TOH feels like such a bare bones fantasy world but the issue is also part of its identity. There's a reason why I've also said that the writers feel like people who don't like fantasy who were forced to write a fantasy show. There's just no respect for the fantasy. And if that's where you're STARTING from for your fantasy world, there's already something wrong unless you're writing a full blown parody. And TOH is all too happy to borrow the easy outs that fantasy can give, especially to spectacle, to make that claim. It's just that if you don't have one side of the coin, your spectacle is going to struggle to feel meaningful. But let's first talk about the complaint. "Our world but with teeth." This is the fantasy equivalent to the horror genre complaint of "This is an action X but with zombies." Both effectively mean the same thing: It is wearing the skin of the genre but not understanding the draw of the genre. The core feelings and emotions and the like of the genre. After all, a scary design does not make horror. Dread, suspense, scarcity, disempowerment, etc. like that make horror. So that begs the question of what makes fantasy fantasy? Well... That's really hard because fantasy is INCREDIBLY complex. Yes, there's the version of wizards and goblins and orcs and elves and etc. but that isn't by any means the only version of a fantasy world. Magic can be limited to very few characters and it can still feel fantastical. You could in fact have ZERO fantasy elements and still evoke the fantastical and the other worldly through your story. That this is a new place with new rules. As an example, my favorite book series, Ranger's Apprentice, has very sparse actual fantasy elements outside of the first two books. And yet, I don't think it loses the fantasy title because of the titular rangers. How people react to them. Their reputation. Their limits and strengths that make them have the reputation of "One Ranger, One Problem." They're that effective at solving things and the joy in finding ways for Rangers to solve new problems is WONDERFUL. And a large component of that is that the myth of the Ranger, how the world sees the Rangers, is taken very seriously. Compare this to The Owl House. Outside of Belos, literally zero threat, if much of anything, is taken wholly seriously. Most of them, frankly, aren't magical. They may have a magical gimmick but they're a story that doesn't require magic. As an example, Tibbles' first appearance. Just swap it to the medication for Eda's disability isn't widely available right now, she has to go to the night market for it, she gets card sharked to give up King and then gets a gun put in her face. The only thing the fantasy elements adds is that you believe no one will object to Tibbles now owning a person.

And that's where the more teeth part comes into play. People are so much like our real world counterparts that it doesn't feel like a reasonably different culture. Just think about how Willow is introduced. Her strength in plant magic isn't what decided her path. Her path was decided because 'abominations have more career options'. It's a cute joke but like... Plant magic is TERRIFYING in most settings. TOH effectively boils it down to vines outside of one memory poison but think about all that plant magic can encompass. The sudden growth of potion materials. Pheromones and pollens by plants you make suddenly spring up. The hundreds of different poisons you can craft out of plants, OR THE ONES THEY MAKE THEMSELVES. But just from that one line, we're told that magic is incredibly de-emphasized in this setting. That it's so mundane that you learn what will get you a job instead of what you are capable of doing. Does the show do anything with that though? No. A LOT of S1 Boiling Isles actually has this feeling. This feeling of people being very mercenary and out for gain more than they are the wonder of their own world. It's shockingly similar to ours honestly and at first explains why instead of exploring the world, 90% of what Luz faces is some form of huckster or scam artist who's magic doesn't matter. I mean, just look at the twins. They have illusion magic which should allow them such a wide variety of options to mess with people and their grand plan for their sister? Steal her diary and share it with people. Yeah, that's... That's totally not something that could have just happened in a normal, school setting. Molly Mcgee has more fun with what you can do in those sorts of ways than TOH and its one fantasy hook is ghosts. Molly Mcgee is REALLY good though. I highly recommend it and I personally need to watch more. But let's back up to something you might criticize me on. While in Hooty's Moving Hassle, Eda's plot can easily be converted away from a magical setting, what about Luz's plot? Moving house, monster hunters, etc. like that?

Well, that's when we get into the other side of it: It's very functional. The Resident Evil games as they become more action oriented changed their zombies into versions that were much cooler to kill and fit into action rhythms. The horror elements no longer were something to care about but now bent to the will of the action verbs.

TOH does this with fantasy. The majority of Luz and co's plot line in Hooty's Moving Hassle isn't interested in the monster hunters or Hooty himself, enchanted by the magic. Those are to give action to Willow's anger towards Amity and to give Willow something to show how powerful she is against. None of this will be remembered. None of this will be called back to. None of this even portrayed in very interesting ways as the fight is effectively skipped at the end and yeah, they move Hooty but it's just for teenage hi-jinks. It's not bad but it's not special.

This extends to much more important episodes though. Teenage Abomination features Principle Bump putting the school into lock down with intricate runes and a complex system of magic. We never see anything like that again. The Power Glyph in Covention spits directly in the face of Luz's magic being special but it allows Amity to have a fighting chance against magic traps (another concept never brought back) that Eda places and for the emotional moment of her having been tricked into cheating.

Now this isn't to say that your fantasy/magic shouldn't bend to your narrative. There's a breaking point though. If the magic ONLY bends, instead of standing tall, it feels like a tool. It's actually part of what's important about early Hogwarts stuff in Harry Potter. Do the portraits need to be alive all the time? No. Do the staircases constantly have to be moving, especially when they aren't actually saving physical space? No.

But do you know what those things do add? They add the feeling that when a secret passage is shown to exist, you immediately believe it. This place is DRENCHED in unnecessary magic. So much of it defies logic because why the fuck not? This is magic. Let's have fun! So when you're told there's fifteen evil basements and roughly 27 BILLION secret passages, you just… agree. That is the world they've set up.

And I do want to mention that this isn't just in flowery ways. Dark Fantasy effectively asks the question of "How fucked up can we make magic?" What can you do with bones and blood that will just make a person's skin crawl? How much pain can we inflict on the mind because of pressure that couldn't be possible in any other way? What price is paid for magic?

TOH cares so little about its magic thought that it can't even keep something as basic as the spell circle consistent. Darius' abomination form has NO SPELL CIRCLE. Not even an attempt despite how strong that spell feels. He just focuses and casts. Why? I don't know. Probably because it's cool and it's less of a Danny Phantom ripoff than what you'd get with a transformation done with a circle. Most bard magic doesn't have spell circles for OBVIOUS REASONS.

And this doesn't need to be hard coded into its magic. Little Miss Rich Witch, my own series, is very loose with its magic. Instead it's through the society that I create the feeling of something different. The main characters are nobles, something we don't have as much of, and that fact permeates through their social interactions and the feeling of them not being just people from our world in costumes.

But with TOH... how many care about Luz being human? That she doesn't have magic or that the glyphs are special? She is a complete anomaly to this world and NO ONE CARES. It gets a little lip service by Amity and Eda but Boscha just calls it weird that a human is going to her school. She cares more about Luz being friends with Willow than anything to do with her being human or magicless. The glyphs themselves are purely mechanical even with little weight to most of them and little impact for those that do have weight behind their discoveries.

Or hell, how about the demons of the DEMON REALM? They act like anyone else and their biggest distinction is that if you're a demon, you're a villain or a background character. You're not pretty enough to be a part of the actual cast (despite Boscha being a bombshell but I mean... All she has is a third eye). The majority of character just look like elves but with only their magic instead of any sort of culture, ideals, etc. like that. When even your only two races in your fantasy realm are that basic... What's the point? Why not just them all humans with magic if that's effectively what they are? If they have no personality beyond that? And I know that's hypocritical of me since I wrote a 300k word behemoth that was exploring Luz, Amity and Boscha, two main characters and someone I elevated into have very real depth, inbetween S1 and 2 but that's also the thing: On accident, S1 appears to have a personality. Lots of questions about its magic that you may want answers to. Oddities to its world like teachers getting excited about kids fighting that stick out in the brain a little. And the setting is also just malleable enough that I could headcanon a LOT of different elements, like glyphs being linked to emotions and that causing problems with a witch's bile sacs so as to make them dangerous to witches but that's also why Luz is so powerful with them. S2 takes away SO MUCH OF THIS. The increased attention but also death of taking the EC seriously is a large part of this. Suddenly, we're being told that things like Child Endangerment laws have been in place since Eda was a child. Why is it like this now? The Savage Times were actually a utopia so now any negative element of the BI feels forced and incongruent for the simple message of "Belos bad" even while Gus doubles down on "ONLY ILLUSIONS FOR LIFE MOTHERFUCKERS!" So what could have been done? Caring. At all. But the writers hardly care about their characters and treat many of them like plot devices. Why in the world should we expect them to treat the setting with more care than that? Especially when King, arguably the most important character in the series, spends half of it as comic relief? And all of this doesn't even get into the subversive elements. I barely touched on how none of the threats arrayed against people are taken seriously for more than a minute besides Belos. But those elements themselves really push the idea that all is ephemeral. That you shouldn't care about any of it. That the moment you look away, it all vanishes. And one of Fantasy's greatest strengths, or the strength of any story, is to teleport you to new worlds that you can believe in. That feel real, despite the fact that you know they're not. And eventually, I found everything to be made of nothing more sturdy than cardboard with some glitter on it. ========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[superthatguy62]

top 5 ffs?

Oh, hello.

Just as a warning, I have yet to go through the post 5 FF games to a significant degree, so I'll be including some spinoffs:

5: Final Fantasy Explorers

I haven't played... well, any Monster Hunter-type games, so FFE was my first taste of it, and you know what? I enjoyed it. I played it on single-player, so it was essentially "Beastmaster: The Game" and the bosses were still fun enough. Also it probably has one of my top 5 favorite Big Bridge remixes and some of the music (particularly the general boss theme and Odin's theme) are highlights for me.

4: Final Fantasy Tactics

It clears the 'higher-than-you'd-expect' hurdle of me being able to actually play a decent amount of a strategy game and is generally fun to boot. I got up to Chapter 3 before the random encounters started kicking my ass enough to discourage me from continuing (though the fights towards the end of chapter 2 really tested my patience), though said encounters didn't help by me playing the PSP version with its magic/animation slowdown. By all accounts, I should probably go for the GBA/DS games since those lack permadeath (albeit with a very different tone plotwise), but I still intend to try out the PS1 version of the first game and hopefully not grind myself into a corner.

3: Final Fantasy 2

Yes, this. FF2's 'quirky' and 'complicated', but I dig the story, the gameplay once your characters actually get built up and just general setting. It's also to read the supplementry material and other notes on what could have been: It really shows that the devs were putting some thought into the story and its a shame how some elements didn't translate properly. It's the type of game where it gets better the more you know of how it works. That said the dungeon design alone holds this back fiercely, especially in the PSP's Arcane Labyrinth (Darkness floor, my beloathed). Speaking of which, the bonus content for this game is probably some of the better such content of these re-releases.

2: Final Fantasy 3

Wow, what a surprise.

FF3 is basically the video game equivalent of "it could be that deep" in my eyes. Because you don't have any of those fancy "Materias", "GFs", Magicites" or even abilities to carry over like in FFV and FFT, you need to team build your way through whatever the game throws at you. Again, FF3 is one of those games that gets better when you have more an idea of what to expect: Getting thrown into a mini-dungeon early on is annoying, but its less so when you have mages prepared ahead of time to either magic their way through or play "pass the Fire Rod that the devs conveniently added". The world isn't fully developed, but the nuggets you can find are interesting, especially the whole duality concept and the existence of the World of Darkness.

But this is also the same guy who has spent however many years obsessing over this game, so you know. Feel free to add some salt to this opinion.

As for why this isn't higher, it's because my image of this game has been ruined by my obsession, and there I feel there is no "definitive" version. All three versions are playable (yes, even the remake) and enjoyable (yes, even the remake), but all have enough pros and cons that I can't fully say one is better than the others. It's the kind of game that feels like it has yet to reach its full potential and I unfortunately don't think there are many people, at least in the west, who would care even if it did. 3's always been the overshadowed game. After all, FF5 is right there. And, oh hey, speaking of...

1: Final Fantasy 5:

Not quite a basic answer, but still a not-uncommon one, I feel. I was very late to the FF5 party, only playing it when the PR came out and not even experiencing it through osmosis like I did with FF6, and while my obsession with 3 means that it will never overcome that bias, I can easily see why people consider it to be the gameplay peak of the Nintendo-era, if not 6. It builds on what 1 and 3 started and the job combos can be fun to play with. That said, I'll admit that part of my ranking it so high is a particularly impressive mod known as "Custom Classes", which allows you to swap out basically all of the commands, meaning that you can carry over more than one skill between jobs. I haven't finished a full playthrough of CC yet, but between that and the reasons I gave for FF3, I'll be willing to give the edge to 5 over it.

Also, 5 gave us Gilgamesh and ExDeath (and indirectly eScape, and therefore The Twinning).

Honorable Mentions:

Dissidia (012): I don't know how to feel about this game. Settingwise: I love the ways it expands the FF1 mythos, but I hate how WoL is a manikin and what that implies for the rest of the FF1 party. It gave me my favorite portrayal of Garland, but it also gave me Onion Knight, whom I resent for sidelining Luneth's party in later crossovers. Even gameplaywise, I like the general gameplay, at least on paper, but I think I get far frustrated with it more than I would with a normal fighting game. Yet, I keep playing or get the urge to keep playing. Maybe it deserves to be on the list? Maybe it doesn't?

Final Fantasy VIII: I haven't gotten far in FFVIII (I finished the Dollet mission) but what I've played so far feels promising as far as my first PS1-era FF goes (some perfectionism on my part aside). Junctioning is an 'interesting' mechanic, but I think I like it. I need to get the hang of Triple Triad, but I can understand how people get hooked on it.

Final Fantasy Dimensions: Albeit with the mother of all asterisks: This is here mostly for the 'idea' than the execution right now. Like the other FFT games, I do have it ready for play, I just haven't gotten around to it, because when I play games on my phone, it's usually the gatchas that I'm stockholm syndrome'd to playing right now and it's rare for me to not be playing at least 2 at a time. At some point I do want to get around to actually playing it, but until it gets like a steam release or something, it'll be one of those "get to it eventually" type games.

Final Fantasy: Admittedly, it has been ages since I played through FF1 (relatively speaking) compared to every other game on this list aside from FFE, so I don't know how much mention it merits. But I'll put it here anyway.

[the-east-art]

Musing on JRPGS

Just like some stuff I've been thinking about. This will mostly talk about Tales of games that I've played and Final Fantasy VII (kind of reviews of these games?)

I'm putting it under the readmore because this will probably be long and rambly!

SO quick background. I love video games but I don't actually play a ton of them, I get busy with a lot of other stuff so while I have a passion for games I would never call myself an expert. Growing up my parents did not want us playing video games, and we only ever had consoles or games because of my rogue grandparents and uncle I believe. I grew up with a Gamecube with no memory cartridge, so games I played we always started over, or had to keep the GameCube on for weeks at a time. Eventually we got one, but that was in middle school.

Most of my experience with JRPGS has been in the last six years. I met a lovely friend with a passion for Tales of games and have slowly been making my way through the catalogue with them. (they're @mewnia and do awesome art!)

Anyways JRPGS! So I have noticed a couple main ideas that guide a JRPG. Most of them are defined by their lead characters story, the world building/magic system, the fighting system, and the cast of supporting characters. Different games are stronger or weaker in the various areas.

The Tales of series and the Final Fantasy series are like sister franchises to me. They both are a long line of titles, all mostly standalone, that deal with the same general magic concepts of spirits and stuff but play around with the rules these elements play by and the role they have in the story itself. My first JRPG was really Tales of Symphonia, and while I remember really loving it, I also played it way back in Middle School. I could talk about it, but not in a way that's analytical enough for this discussion. There is also kind of a classic JRPG mid game twist, where we discover that the world is not what we thought and reveal the 'true' plot of the game.

The Tales of series while not the most popular series in the west I really love the general design elements that they choose to go with. I feel like they're just stylized enough to stand out (with the exception of Arise, which makes me worry for the future of the franchise) and their designs walk an interesting line between complex and and just approachable enough for an artist.

Tales of Vesperia - This was the first one I played with my friend. The overall story isn't anything special in my opinion, but where this game really shines is the the side characters. This may be one of if not the best JRPG I've played so far that has the characters dynamics not only feel so good, but has each characters narrative arc integrate into the main story in such an intuitive way. Many JRPGs I've played will have the main plot basically come to a standstill in order to address the side characters stories. However each character in this game has a significant relevance to the main plot, and while circumstance brings them together, it's their choices that keeps them together. Because you connect so much with the characters, this game made me have some real emotions during its' various character twists (I'm looking at Raven here) Although this games mid game twist isn't anything crazy.

Tales of the Abyss - Boasting some of my favorite character designs, this games overall plot is definitely one of my faves. I think it does its' musical motif really well in the worldbuilding. The main character specifically has some of the best written progression and development over the course of the game, which does a good job at feeling real. Both this game and Vesperia has a relatively simple battle system, but I especially like how I feel like I'm really in control of how I play my character, and that I'm making choices in battles. Again I think most of the credit to this game goes to its' good world-building.

Tales of Xillia - This one boasts some of my least favorite character designs! congrats! I just felt like the designs are too complex and as a group not harmonious. When all the characters in Abyss stand together I was very happy. When all these characters stand together it looks like a mess. That being said the mid game plot twist in this game KICKS ASS. I LOVE IT. The issues in this game are one of my faves in the moral complexity, with lots of attention put towards how we prioritize certain people in our societies. I recall enjoying the fighting in this game too, and this is the first game I think I played with a really unique ability to customize your characters with little silly props. 10/10 all games should have this.

Xillia 2 - I will just touch on this one briefly. I have big love for the protag in this game, and it has good world building. I love alternate universes. Getting to see the paths the main characters took after the events of the first game is nice, although I would have appreciated a couple more new characters in the team. The affinity building dynamic was unique to this game and something I particularly enjoyed. Ludger is also very hot. there I said it.

Tales of Zestiria - This game is, uh, fine. Designs are fine. Character dynamics range from really good to just meh. The story is pretty vanilla, which I think is on purpose? Since its like a King Arthur retelling. I feel like this game has a really weird battle system where your attacks are judged by combo rather than direction button presses, which made me feel less in control of my characters fighting. However the magical girl merge mechanic in this game made up for it. Despite being such a vanilla story, I also found myself really confused a lot? Like the names and stuff for some reason were really hard to follow? But that's okay because this game sets the stage for....

Tales of Berseria - a prequel to Zestiria, but best played after it. The vanilla tone of Zestiria perfectly sets you up for the INCREDIBLE story of Berseria, where you play as not only a morally grey character, but in many ways an actual villain. The character dynamics in this game are really fun, as most characters are also leaning into the morally grey archetype, versus some of the characters that are kind of trapped with the group but are more archetypical good characters. It ends up really making you look at the story from a lot of different angles. The designs can be hit or miss in this game, ranging from awesome to 'I know you could do better'. The fighting in this game is one of my faves, requiring some real thought and the ability to have unique abilities taken from enemies spices things up a lot. This game is, without a doubt, a tragedy. And while by this point I was kind of tired of Tales of games never giving it's protags happy endings, I can't deny that this ideas was a theme throughout all the game and all the characters arcs.

Alright so, Final Fantasy VII

So, because I have played so many Tales of games, it is with the eyes of a tales of player that I analyzed Final Fantasy when I finally played it a month or so ago. Final Fantasy VII was an archetype game, defining a genre. That means that it is both very good, and also very lacking in the quality of life additions that we take for granted in more current games. So I won't belabor you with those critiques, just know that they're there. The designs in this game are good! very different from the Tales of series that I know, these character designs are a little more grungy looking, but overall I think the team looks good all stranding together and in the world, which is what matters the most. The magic system is something very unique, with the idea that the lifeblood of the world is also the knowledge of the past, and the materia system is simple enough for a beginner but also complex enough that if you should choose you can really dig your teeth into it. I personally really love the story of this game, both as it played with trials of the main cast, and the political power of Shirna in the face of the apocalypse. I think it's particularly telling and realistic that even in such a circumstance, the government will attempt to fight both the apocalypse AND the main cast rather than uniting. Character arcs are VERY hit or miss. We have some arcs that incorporate perfectly into the main story such as Aerith's, some that are only there to support the main characters (Tifa), some that stop the main plot in order to be pursued off to the side (Red XIII, Barret, Yuffie), and some that are barely there is at all (Cait Sith and Vincent). Luckily we have the remake in the form of future hope that some of these characters will get the spotlight and attention I feel they need.

Anyway uh if you read this all thanks! Mostly I wanted to get some of my thoughts down so I wouldn't forget it. IDK if I'll ever make a JRPG of my own, but I do really love JRPGS. I find the large cast to always be very fun, and the different ways that the games build up a world around similar building blocks to make unique stories is really interesting. Sometimes these worlds are the main focus, and sometimes they are just a beautiful backdrop for the plot.

[rebelrebelwrites]

Fic authors self-rec! ✨ When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you’ve written, then pass on to at least five other writers ❤️

Thanks for the tags @bad-surprise and @wyrd-syster

Mine are all from other fandoms, but just in case any Reylos still follow me or your sexual awakening was also Jareth the Goblin King 😂, I'll share my 5 favorite fics that I’ve written w/ all the old shit I made for them:

1. when the moon met the sun in the sky [reylo fantasy au | E | 71k | 20/20] — To date my proudest work, just because it was fun to try and attempt to evoke a Miyazaki-style fantasy world, and the world-building was so much fun.

"Who?" Rey asked.

She knew who. But she didn't know what else to say.

The man called Kylo Ren — Ben, her mind whispered — rolled his shoulders, a tick she'd seen before, a thousand times at least; an echo of a boy she used to know.

He seemed to notice. He took a tentative step toward her. When she flinched in response, he froze.

"Don't do that," he said, soft as a psalm. His dark eyes darted over every inch of her.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Lie."

2. Boon [reylogan heist au | E | 39k | 12/20] — This is such a niche fic in the first place because it’s a crossover between SW and Logan Lucky, but man, it was so fun and Rey/Clyde are so soft. I’d never attempted to write a heist and I obviously didn’t finish but I still have a fondness for this (permanently? IDK) on hiatus little fic.

“Your jar looks like it’s full of stars,” Sadie said, gaping at it.

“It does,” Clyde agreed. He raised his own. “Time to set them free?”

Sadie nodded, skipping into the night to release hers. As Rey turned to follow, Clyde snaked his good hand around her wrist.

“Follow me.”

He led her around the house, where the night felt denser, darker, somehow warmer. Underfoot, wild daisies swayed in the dying summer breeze.

“Here,” he murmured. She smiled at him, then twisted the top of her jar off. He followed suit. Together, they shook the little bugs free — to fly away, blinking little lights in the darkness; hazy yellow stars they might touch.

3. Crown Glass [reylo fantasy au | M | 4k | 1/1] — I love this one because it just sort of came into being; a prompt/gift one-shot that took on a mind of its own, but I got to play more with present tense and some high-fantasy elements bouncing around in my brain.

She shouldn’t be able to find it. But she does.

It stands tall, tucked away in the back of the cellar; she weaves through abandoned armor, crusted cauldrons, and shelves and shelves of spellbooks to reach it. It’s old, ancient even; she can feel that, even if she’d never set eyes on it, full-length and ringed in circles of crown glass that shimmer in the gloom.

She reaches out a hand, skimming the surface–

And then a world appears on the other side.

A room, awash in milky moonlight. A desk, buried by books. A bed…

And a man.

She draws her hand back, heart thumping as loud as the magic in her ears.

The world flickers and fades back into blackness.

4. This is the Sign You've Been Looking For [reylo modern au | E | 29k | 10/10] — My first real Reylo fic and what got me back into writing after years away, so I have to give it credit! Also my first ever AU, and Virgin artist Ben Solo and sign maker Rey were so sweet and sad but with a nice HEA.

"I'm sorry," Rey murmured, drawing close. She could only seem to look at her feet.

He pressed a large palm to her face, tilting her head up to look at him. The music filtering in from the living room was noticeably softer; vaguely, Rey recognized Elton's "Your Song" playing in the background and decided it was a good idea to rest her hands on Ben's hips.

He glanced down at her touch, swallowing hard.

"Don't be," he hummed.

5. Muse [Labyrinth canonverse fic | E | 82k | 20/20] — I have a lot of Feelings about this fic, but I have to include it even though a part of me wants to edit it into oblivion, haha. I feel like I’ve come so far as a writer since finishing this in my early twenties, but I’ll always appreciate this for how it helped me improve, for how it gave me an avenue to do more with fantasy world-building, and for the nice response it got in a small little fandom.

"Why did you give me the peach?"

He stared at her, his expression unfathomable.

"Are you going to answer me?" asked Sarah quietly.

"You know why I gave it to you," replied Jareth, "To make you forget."

"No," continued Sarah, "I know. That wasn't what I meant. Why did you give me the peach, knowing that I would never be able to leave after taking a bite?"

Tagging: @demonscantgothere @scriberated @myrsinemezzo @thrillofhope and @formerlyir

[lilareviewsbooks]

An Entry Level Guide To Fantasy Books: Fantasy Lit. 101

So, you wanna start reading fantasy, but you're kinda overwhelmed with the amount of books there are out there? As a fantasy veteran, I'll give you a couple of options of how to get into the genre and become well-seasoned, yourself :)

First, some important things to remember:

If you've never read fantasy before in your life, let me warn you: fantasy can be confusing. An element of fantasy is something called "world-building", where authors create a new world that is as divorced for ours as they would like it to be. This means there are different countries, languages, people, customs and institutions. If you've ever been to foreign country, the experience of beginning a fantasy book is quite similar - everything is weird and you don't speak the language.

This is why the first couple of chapters may be difficult. You will be unfamiliar with certain terms, for example, as well as lack the context to understand certain actions the characters make. However, remember: the author does not expect you to understand every element of their world at this stage of your reading journey. They understand you have just arrived in this world, and are learning. The situations and words you will see in the first couple of pages are usually there on purpose so that you will slowly learn them and finish the book understanding everything perfectly. Be patient with yourself.

It's also important to remember that many books are part of series, sometimes long ones, and that these series are sometimes part of universes. Think the MCU: everything is connected. This means reading a single book worth of fantasy might not be enough to read a complete story. For the beginning of your journey, I would recommend not trying for anything with more than 4 books, unless you feel pretty confident you will not loose interest. Fantasy series can be tough to read because you have to remember a lot of information from one book to the next - smaller series will be easier because you won't have to do this too much.

Lastly: listen to your heart. This sounds silly but - if you're craving a certain fantasy series, and it's not on this list, or anywhere else, just do it. The worst that can happen is you give yourself a headache. Try. You can always return to it when you feel you have a better grasp of the genre.

Now, let's do some recommendations:

OPTION 1: Start With Middle Grade

Most people start their fantasy journey when they are kids, so why not replicate this experience? There are plenty of quality, well-written and interesting children's books in the genre. They will be easier to understand, their world-building more forth-coming to you and their ideas are usually pretty delightful. You won't be bored!

My personal recommendation would be Nevermoor, by Jessica Townsend. It's one of my favorite books! It's secondary world fantasy (the real world does not exist inside the book), but our main character is new to the town she lives in, and so she learns things bit by bit, alongside the reader. Also, it's just delightful, and so will not be giving you any headaches. The story follows Morrigan as she is whisked away to the magical city of Nevermoor by the charming Jupiter North. There, she will compete in a series of trials to become part of an elite school called the Wundurous Society!

It's a series, with 3 books currently, and more to come. But it's very easy to read, and so I wouldn't discourage you at all from giving it a go!

OPTION 2: Start With Young Adult

I understand though, that for many people middle-grade is too young. So I'd try some fantasy that's aimed for teens. It holds the same benefits as middle-grade: easier to read, and usually in smaller series.

I would recommend Six Of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo. It's part of a larger shared universe, but reading just Six Of Crows and its sequel gives you a complete story (and the other books aren't nearly as good). Almost universally beloved, the series follows a cast of rag-tag characters as they attempt a heist to an impenetrable prison.

Six Of Crows is a lot of fun, which is why I chose it! The pacing is very good, and although there is a bit of world-building to get through in the beginning, things soon clear up. The focus of the story is mostly the characters, and they are excellent!

OPTION 3: Start With Novellas

Novellas are small works that are usually in the 100 to 200 page range. In fantasy, a genre known for its behemoths, a novella is a welcome sight - and good starting point!

A lot of novellas, though, can be places for authors to experiment with crazy ideas, and so can be quite complex: pick wisely. Tor.com, an famous speculative fiction imprint, has plenty of options, but be aware of that. My personal pick would be The Singing Hills Cycle, by Nghi Vo.

It's a series of novellas - you can pick any one as a starting point, and it'll be a self-contained story. It follows the adventures of cleric Chih, whose monastery collects stories and memories. They are accompanied by a talking bird called Almost Brilliant, who slays. Personally, I think the best one is Mammoths At The Gates.

OPTION 4: Start With A Standalone

Starting with a book that has no sequels is also a good idea: and a quick way to know if you're into that style of fantasy. I'd try Babel, by R.F. Kuang.

Although it broaches complex themes of imperialism, language and white feminism, to name a few, Babel's world is our world, with a few magical elements thrown in. The magic system is pretty straightforward to understand, and most of the difficulties the novel presents are what you'd encounter in some good historical or literary fiction.

The story follows Robin, who is orphaned in Canton and brought to England by an Oxford professor, in order to become a magical translator at their prestigious silver-making institute. This one is also a favorite of the bookish community - and for a reason!

OPTION 5: Start With A Series

If you're determined to read an adult fantasy series, I think the best way to go would be another duology: She Who Became The Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan is an excellent pick. Much like Babel, although the book does deal with complicated themes, the magic is pretty straight-forward. It does require a little bit of brain power as the cast of characters is a bit on the larger side, if I remember correctly.

The story follows Zhu, who is orphaned and impoverished in 1345 China. She takes the identity of their deceased brother, who was promised greatness by a fortune-teller. Soon, she begins to strive for that greatness, as she and the monks who gave her sanctuary are threathened by Mongol rule.

(Another good option might be R.F. Kuang's earlier books, starting with The Poppy War. But I didn't want to repeat an author! hahaha)

OPTION 6: Start With A Challenge

But, I'm sure there's people who would hate to start with an "easy" pick, and would instead like more of a challenge. I'd recommend this path if you're used to other genres where being confused is par for the course, like sci-fi or historical fiction, or are a long time reader.

I'd recommend The Final Empire, also known by most as Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson. The writing style here, is quite direct. The world-building is a bit more complex, especially the magic system. But I think the combination of the two makes for a more pleasant experience.

In Misborn, the world is a barren wasteland and the Skaa toil away in the fields, enslaved. We follow Vin, a street orphan, as she gets involved in a rebellion and learns she has the magical abilities of a Mistborn.

For a more queer option, try A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark. It is part of a shared universe, but the other works are novellas, and this can be read as a standalone. It follows Fatma el-Sha’arawi, the youngest woman to ever work for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, and her new partner as they try to uncover a mystery. The world-building is based in real 1912 Cairo, and the case our characters need to solve is the cornerstone of the book, making it more approachable.

That's all the recommendations I have, but I understand everyone comes from different places to fantasy literature! If you want some help, please don't hesitate to comment and we'll find a book for you :))

[lockandkeyhyena]

*kicks down door* whats this I hear about world building! My favorite part of peoples original stories! I love hearing about even the most mundane things about world building for a worlds story, like how magic effects things in fantasy settings like how bees work (i have an oc story of my own can you tell, bees are complicated)

well lucky for you ‘worldbuilding/lore’ actually won the poll!!

for the sadboyverse i’ve forced myself to go with soft worldbuilding, in that i don’t think out every intricate detail and how everything works/the sociopolitical climate/etc because that’s usually what i default to and i end up focusing so much on every little strand of worldbuilding i never actually get around to writing the story!

additionally, i think a certain level of soft worldbuilding gives the story a very nice casual/storybook feeling that i like to aim for in my work

with that being said!! here are some fun lore tidbits about how their universe differs from our own :3

swimming and such is treated and emotionally reacted to the same way caving is by the general public. its still a thing people do but you’d probably get a few odd looks.

ambiguous time period but someone’s allegiance can be ascertained by what kind of technology they use. beetle is represented by older technology while fulgur is represented by modern technology. not on purpose in-universe but a fun literary metaphor/visual. think about the movie ‘it follows’ and how the time period was portrayed in that.

animals, objects and everyday concepts are just another thing people can be named. leroy, titan, simon, berry, matt, spider, etc are all average names.

supernatural elements are likely a thing, but only subtly or having little to no connection to the living. ghosts can barely interact with the living and can vary from an emotion or presence to a full on spectre. most supernatural occurrences happen when a person is in an extremely mentally unstable place and tend to be what would be viewed as hallucinations or deep untapped emotions. very liminal feeling and soft magic system-like.

[daily-rayless]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

Thank you, but aaaaaaa, this is difficult. I only started posting on AO3 last year, but I've been posting fic online since 2006, and while there's a lot of old stuff I can't 100% stand by, there are also older fics and elements of older fics I'm still proud of today.

I think for a lot of ficwriters, our fics are tied very closely to different points in our lives and our sense of accomplishment -- so things like that also make it difficult to pick favorites when looking at these titles stirs up so many memories.

But here, I'll give it a shot:

5: Kindred (Harry Potter, 2007, no longer online): These days, my feelings about HP are less positive, but Kindred was my take on the life and upbringing of Fleur Delacour. It allowed me to research an expansive fantasy world as well as make new friends online as they patiently fielded my questions about life in the UK. I got to play around with original world building when it came to Beauxbatons and Veela (at a time when the HP world was still more open) as well as imagine the latter sections of the series from the perspective of the Order of the Phoenix. I was also writing this right during all the build up to Book Seven. I thought I was pretty safe in world building for Fleur, figuring she'd never be all that central, only to read Deathly Hallows and find not only that she's fairly involved, but a good chunk of my headcanon had to be thrown out and rewritten. Kindred was also the first time I'd contributed a longfic to a major fandom that was simmering with interest and energy, and I got so much encouraging feedback. It was a lot of work, I felt so proud of myself, and I was so pleased people enjoyed it. I'm still touched when people message me and say they remember it all these years later.

Weasley gives me an automatic smile. “Just a moment, excuse me.” He jerks his chin to Hassan, and they pass out of the room, down the hall. Hassan glances at me, raises his eyebrows, and grins.

Damn.

I distract myself from my hunger by studying the office. This is one of the smaller ones I’ve seen, cluttered with unopened boxes and a half-filled bookcase. The desk is neat, stacked with papers. A black leather-bound book on the desk catches my eye, its cover stamped with broad gold swirls and dots. It also, I realize, opens right-to-left. Hebrew?

I glance at the still-open door. No sounds.

I slide my fingers under the front cover, flipping it open. Then I blink and lean forward. Every left page is full of that sweeping, dotted script. Every right page has pictures, very stylized. Hieroglyphs, I think. A lot of the figures have animal heads on human bodies, and I recognize the ancient Egyptian numerals from Arithmancy class. I shut the book. I really shouldn’t pry.

My stomach yowls. Well, glancing at stuff on the desk isn’t prying.

I pass over the papers. There’s a framed photo of nine people standing in front of a pyramid, all of them vibrantly redheaded. I pick out Bill Weasley in the group, sans ponytail and earring. He looks better with them.

I check his wall clock. 12:31. Argh.

There’s a small glass case by the photo, containing a chip of some rock (lapis?) inlaid with gold. Arranged around it are what seem to be ancient corn kernels...no...Oh my goodness, they’re human teeth.

Rattle.

I jump, wheeling guiltily towards the door.

Thud.

Rattle.

I look back down at the desk. The sounds are coming from the top left drawer.

Slowly, steadily, I back away from the desk.

Thud. It sounds large, as though something almost filling the drawer is shifting around.

Suddenly, the fact that I’m in a Curse-Breaker’s office carries much more weight. If Kensington could get a curse in the mail, couldn’t Weasley keep a special occasion curse in his desk drawer?

No matter. It doesn’t concern me.

“Mphlum?” comes from the drawer.

That was a human voice.

“Gphlb? Gvpblaffx!”

His muffled voice sounds like he’s struggling. I realize that I’ve stepped back towards the drawer.

Really...Weasley’s a Curse-Breaker...why would he keep a curse lying around? It’s his job to get rid of them.

“Plibg.”

I run my thumb along the smooth brass drawer-pull. Probably it’s some annoying portrait he’s imprisoned there for peace and quiet. I know all about that.

“Thfssss?”

I jerk the drawer open. A human head stares back at me.

4: The Stars Are Fire (Tales of the Abyss, 2021): This is my longfic about Asch and Natalia, exploring their relationship before and through the game, then examining Natalia's life after the war. I think what I love so much about this one was how emotionally free it felt to write it. Generally I write in a very linear style. Stars was written all over the place -- one scene here, one scene there, with very little regard as to stringing everything carefully together. The hope is that if you've played the game, you can follow where you are in the timeline, and the scenes are connected more by theme and feelings than plot. Doing it this way took a lot of pressure off of me. I didn't have to write "boring" scenes, I didn't have to carefully plot. A lot of the time it was just, "Oh, what about exploring this canonical scene?" Or, "Wouldn't be interesting to show this about their childhood?" And I could just go with it. Stars is also special to me because my earlier attempts to write long Abyss fics hadn't quite worked, which was a little discouraging because Abyss is one of my very favorite games.

Natalia flew into him, and, as if it were a dance they'd already learned, he closed his arms around her shoulders, the both of them burying their faces in each other. He could feel her fingers gripping his back, her eyelashes against his cheek, her heart pounding against his own. For just a moment, his brain was released from all thoughts, all impressions but breathless relief.

He was here. She was safe.

There were voices, the others exclaiming over Luke. In a moment, Natalia would push away from him, go to Luke too. But she'd come to him first. She'd run to him.

His brain was catching up to all of this, reminding him there was no time for any of it. Nor a point to any of it.

Natalia was pulling away, but she didn't leave his embrace, taking him by the shoulders, looking at him, saying something – asking if he was all right? Asch was about to say something stern – he didn't know what – but she had one of his hairs smeared across her wet cheek and first he needed to wipe that away, otherwise she looked ridiculous – and he touched her cheek, and the next thing he knew, he'd pressed his forehead to hers and shut his eyes and he could feel her soft breath and her hands tightening on him and he was doing his best not to say all of the things he needed to say – he –

“Whoa, what's this?”

Luke's – the replica's baffled voice was what Asch needed to break out of this storm. Not roughly, but firmly, he stepped back from Natalia – she kept hold of his arm, and he didn't stop her. And Asch felt almost furious satisfaction as he saw the replica staring confusedly at the Jewel of Lorelei in his palm.

After Asch explained, as everyone exclaimed over the Jewel – and that somehow they'd both survived the hyperresonance – Asch again felt weight settle over him. He was alive. It wasn't over.

He still had to go on.

3: The Muse of Last Songs (Transistor, 2019): The first in my Muse Trilogy. It was hard to pick between this one and the final installment, because the final one brings things all together to a (hopefully) satisfying close. But I really like Last Songs because it was my chance to world-build a past for Red and dig into her history with the Boxer. The game drops so many little hints about who they are and how they relate to each other, and these hints felt like fun toys to play with. I was a little hesitant to start posting the trilogy because I'm not sure the universe was asking for a very long Transistor trilogy with a lot of of OCs, so that makes me feel so flattered and grateful that people are interested.

Red had no special plans for that day, aside from the lunch with Belrose. She's not expecting any interviews, any photographers. She's wearing trousers and a blouse, a large triangular ring on her right hand. She'd written some notes for her song on her inner arm during lunch, and the marks are still there. Her hair could use a bit of comb, and she's only bothered with lip gloss. She looks more or less how she usually does on a day left alone to herself.

Whether that's a plus or a minus is really just a matter of perspective.

Colette beckons her over, sort of like she's trying to coax some animal that's never been properly domesticated. “We're interviewing bodyguards. Give me thirty of your priceless minutes.”

Red focuses, looking past Colette to the three men. Though of different heights and ethnicities, there's a certain look that they all share – young men, dark hair, dark or tan skin, squarely built and solid looking. She takes a moment to study each. She's never shy about looking people in the eye, and she's glad to see that each of them has the nerve to maintain eye contact.

One of them.

One of them.

One of them, she looks at a few moments longer than the others. Not out of recognition or distrust. He just keeps her attention a bit longer.

2: Death and Ker (Persona 3, 2010): My what-if story exploring if the female protagonist came on another adventure with SEES. While it's no longer my best writing, and I'm sure there's lots in it I would now do differently, this fic still has a very special place in my heart. My earlier Persona longfic, Elysion, is very sad in places, and while Death and Ker also has its bittersweet moments, it was my opportunity to write SEES as strong and hopeful after the harrowing events of Persona 3. I also love the FeMC, Minako, her energy and strength, and I loved writing from her perspective, particularly exploring her relationship with her Persona Thanatos. Add some references to Greek mythology, lots of Shinjiro, and my opportunity to finally get Akihiko and Mitsuru together (one of my favorite ships, but one I find very hard to write), and I still look back on this one happily.

I've come abreast of a bar, with some guys out front smoking, nearly silhouetted against the lit windows. Another guy, broader across the shoulders than the others, has kicked a trashcan onto its side, letting the garbage spew out. He's sitting on it, hair down to his waist and bearded, a shapeless cap over one eye and a long, ragged greatcoat. There's a smell rather worse than cigarette smoke, and I pick up the pace again, wishing I was upwind.

"Hold on," that same gruff voice says, and I realize that Lovely here is my defender. "You took a long look. You can't say you're too proud to say 'good evening'."

His Japanese is perfect, but there's some accent I can't pick out – English-speaking, I think, but I don't recognize it as British or American or anything like that. I've turned towards him before I can tell myself to keep walking. He leans back to study me, throwing his face into better light. Gaunt features, a long pipe between his teeth, some of which are missing. I can't guess his age, except that he's older than me. His hair is some color between blond and brown, and his eyes look greenish, and they track me up and down a few times.

I'm not good at staying away from trouble; people always used to say this about me. But this isn't trouble, it's just a word. So – "Evening," I say, and turn to go.

"You have a look of death about you."

I turn back around. The guy's leaned forward onto his knees again, and the others are talking amongst themselves, someone laughing. Is this a weird set-up, or...? I turn to go.

"You keep out of the light, but there it is just the same."

What?

...I've got a naginata and a Persona with a huge metal mask thing. I can handle whatever's going on here. I turn back and stare at him, waiting for him to explain. He gestures sideways, and unresistingly I step into the glare of the windows.

He stares at me a moment, teeth cracking around his pipe, and nods slowly like he already knew what he'd be seeing. "You're pale enough, and your hair's the color of dead things, dead leaves. Eyes like dirt and blood." He leans back and turns away, drawing on his pipe. "Why pussyfoot around it? Why not carry your damn scythe in the open?"

I blink, but I can't quite deadpan this, and I find myself shifting my weight once from foot to foot. "Are you friends with Mama at Club Escapade or something?"

"Shove off," the guy says, gesturing me away. "Take your dirt with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Pretty girl." He swings to his feet, the trashcan rolling away with a clatter. "Death shouldn't pretend to be cute. It's raw and bleeding and it loves the living more than food or air." He chuckles. "I don't want to be friends." And he slouches into the light of the bar's front door.

I pitch forward a step, about to follow, then pull to a stop, hardly hearing the question one of the other guys throws at me. What was he talking about? Could he tell I was dead? I could ask Death himself, but Thanatos is quiet, uninterested in this exchange.

1: The Beast in the Dark (Fate/Extra, 2017, not online). So this feels kind of selfish, seeing as no one can read it and I don't know whether I'll even post it, but I really love this fic. In the mid-2010s, I was sad and frustrated and artistically unhappy (unhappy about art -- not unhappy in an artistic way), particularly with my original fiction, which didn't feel very good, and most of the time wasn't even happening. In this mindset, I wrote a trilogy of fics set in the Fate/Extra universe, focusing on female Hakuno. And what I love about that experience, along with it helping me through that patch, is that I just let myself go. I threw basically anything I wanted at the story. I researched all sorts of weird things about history and different cultures so I could incorporate them. I really like words and their derivations, so I just told myself I could include unnecessary explanations of word etymologies. I threw in cringey tropes I enjoy but might be embarrassed to admit to other people. I had no expectation of ever posting it, so I truly was able to please myself. Beast is the final installment of the trilogy, the longest, and all the angst and shippy stuff and nonsense comes together in a big loud crash for it, and I just really loved writing that. Almost immediately after finishing Beast, I suddenly felt ready to write The Price and Prey of Magic -- the original novel I'd been thinking about for years, but been unable to start. I don't know if Beast unlocked something in me, but I like to think it did me good.

Was it even possible to really love someone with your whole soul? Maybe a parent could love a child that way. Maybe if the two of you had grown up together, and they'd always been part of your life. But a person who had a whole life separate from you, whom you'd met only recently?

Could you really graft your soul to the soul of a comparative stranger?

There was a tree by the well, and its leaves rustled in the slight breeze, sending a sympathetic shiver down Hakuno's back.

A man's shadow fell across her

She looked up.

It was a tall man in army fatigues and a burnoose. She couldn't really see his face because of the sun behind him.

Crow, she thought.

“You're the American?” he asked.

Hakuno sat up, unprepared for how relieved she was to hear English again. His accent was unfamiliar, but the words were perfectly clear. “Yes,” she said, squinting up. “My name's Hazel Kuznetov.”

Maybe he noticed the squint, because he moved out of the glare, though not any closer. His skin was tanned, but he wasn't actually Middle Eastern – possibly Japanese. Despite his white hair, he looked to be in his twenties. She thought she saw a red muffler wrapped around his head and throat under the burnoose. There was a long gun on his back.

He held his hand out. “I'm Shirou Emiya.”

Thank you for tagging me, @deemoyza. Going through my archive brought a lot of feelings of happiness and gratitude bubbling to the surface.

[queenofmalkier]

I love the WOT show so much I haven't read the books and I think they should've been given at least 10 eps or 12 as the ideal scenario but I genuinely enjoy so much about it. First of all it's an actual fantasy show, we've gotten a lot of attempts after GOT but like it we've had a lot of fantasy adjacent shows but rarely anything that is so immersed in such a complex interesting world where the fantastical elements play such a big role, the amount of amazing female characters is astounding and I love how it feels like it's just starting like it's the first chapters of a much bigger story because one of my favorite things is a story that takes its time to build, a show where its best moments aren't until s5 or 6 and we so rarely get long form storytelling in television anymore everything ends after 3 seasons at the most except the very very lucky few. I'm honestly really nervous that amazon is gonna cancel it when we need 5 more seasons it's not performing at the level this big a production should be, I think they wanted something at the popularity of the boys from it and it's not happening and it's expensive and they might need 10 more years if they're not filming things back to back and that's not happening, I just really hope we get the full story or at least 6 seasons?

I fully agree that it's disappointing to not get 10-12 episodes per season! I know the show runners want more, and I'm sure they've asked with each new season, but sometimes the powers that be just won't allow those extra episodes :(

I'm glad you're enjoying WOT though! With any luck the cancellation bear won't come for it.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Do you have any thoughts on the idea of a “new” ultimate universe that’s being explored? The og obviously had its fair share of issues (especially for maximoff fans) but also had its high points (miles, for one). If they’re going to sort of repeat the original conceit of the universe (completely new starting point for readers and characters) it could be a good way to give characters with questionable backstories etc new, less stereotypical life.

I’m not particularly optimistic for a number of reasons, but if you were to write the maximoffs with a modern introduction inspired by their og storyline (coerced teen villains into high profile heroes), how would you go about doing it/starting it? Even just explaining Wanda’s original powers obviously has caused others trouble

Personally, I would not choose to revisit the Ultimates world. There are some parts of it that are, like, fine, but on the whole, I think Ultimates is similar to the M C U, in that it betrays and most of things that I find compelling about Marvel Comics-- and most of my favorite characters are completely unrecognizable. Everyone fixates on the inc*st thing with Wanda and Pietro, but Ultimates totally ruined those characters, plus Erik and Magda, on several different levels. I'm glad that Miles has been extracted from the Ultimates world, and it seems like Hickman is going to leave him alone for now.

Reblog this post if you think the twins on the right are WAY HOTTER AND COOLER than the twins on the left.

Let's say, for argument's sake, that I'm adapting Wanda and Pietro for a new continuity and I can't make them mutants or connect them to Magneto. I would probably do something similar to Midnight Suns, and focus on their origins at Mount Wundagore. That location has a lot of interesting history, and I think that expanding on the Elder Gods mythology would be smart way to unify all of the magical and fantasy elements of the Marvel universe with cohesive world-building. Comics have never really succeeded at this, and the M C U honestly never even tried, so that's where I would start.

Starting Wanda and Pietro out as unwilling villains is a little tricky once you take the Brotherhood out of the picture. I think I would either use the High Evolutionary or the sorcerer Modred-- both were occupants of Mount Wundagore, and both have had a hand in manipulating and exploiting the twins. Modred is a stronger choice because of his connection to Chthon, but if I need to introduce the Evolutionary for my larger continuity, this would be a good time to do it.

This guy; not to be confused with the Arthurian Mordred, also a Marvel character.

So here's my plot--

Wanda and Pietro's childhood and adolescence would basically follow 616-canon-- raised by Django and Marya; separated from their family during a racist hate crime; and forced to live on the run for years due to their emerging powers and further discrimination.

They return to Mount Wundagore seeking answers about their powers and their birth mother. They are taken in by the Knights of Wundagore, who, as in Midnight Suns, are an ancient order tasked with safeguarding the mountain and its hidden magic. Little do they know, the Knights have been corrupted by the same villain-- be that Modred or the Evolutionary-- who killed their birth mother and experimented on them as babies.

Wanda is given pages from the Darkhold, which she believes are ancient magical texts that will help her master her abilities. In truth, of course, they are priming her to become Chthon's vessel. She performs spells from the Darkhold to bolster the Knight's powers. Pietro has joined the Knights, believing that they will help him protect his sister-- as in canon, Pietro protective to a fault, because he believes that people are always trying to take advantage of Wanda and her abilities. And he's not wrong!

Agatha Harkness infiltrates the Knights of Wundagore, disguised as an elderly healer. She is an ancient witch whose coven once worked alongside the true Knights to keep Chthon bound while studying the mountain's magic. She has known the Maximoff family for generations, and has been seeking out Natalya's children ever since receiving a premonition of the return of the Scarlet Witch.

Agatha doesn't have the power the stop Wanda now that she is under the Darkhold's influence, so she sends a warning to Doctor Strange that Chthon's return is eminent.

Strange gathers a team of heroes to prevent Chthon's return. This leads to a big fight wherein Wanda and Pietro are technically the "bad guys," which ends with Wanda fully succumbing to the Darkhold. She unleashes a devastating attack against the heroes and descends deep within the mountain.

Pietro find himself abandoned on the mountainside. Agatha reveals herself to him and explains the truth, not only about his family but also about the Modred/Evolutionary situation. Pietro joins the heroes, and Agatha urges him to seek out Django, who she has discovered living in a nearby Transian village.

Django's memories are distorted by trauma and a magical curse that was inflicted on him by the Knights to keep him away from Wanda. Upon reuniting Django with his son, Agatha is able to lift the curse, explaining that their family's legacy-- not their blood, but their love for each other and the gifts they have passed down through their generations-- is the true source of their magic.

Chthon emerges from the mountain, using Wanda as a vessel. There's another big fight, and the heroes are able to get Pietro and Django close enough to Wanda for them to exorcize and bind Chthon within a doll that Django had crafted as a gift for his pregnant sister, Natalya. Django tragically passes away after the battle, but the twins are able to properly mourn him and their mothers. Wanda witnesses the spirit of Natalya and awakens to her true power as the Scarlet Witch.

Wanda agrees to study under Agatha, Pietro joins the hero team, and they both both meet Victoria Montessi, who is going to help them track down the Darkhold pages that have now been scattered to the wind. VICKI + WANDA BESTFRIENDS REAL

And that's my first draft at a magic-focused, no-mutants adaption of Wanda and Pietro's origins that hopefully includes a lot of the same themes, and would hopefully enable more authentic representations of their Romani background while also doing some more cohesive worldbuilding. IT'S JUST A FIRST DRAFT... I might tweak it! Be kind.

Anyways, I've said it before, but I don't actually think Wanda's abilities are that difficult to understand. Her hex power is admittedly, not well-defined, but it's pretty easy to work with if you think of "manipulating probability" as "manipulating physics." Her ability to control matter and energy, then, would correlate to her knowledge and understanding of the particular forces she's working with, so you get a dynamic power that scales to different situations and works really well in a group setting where she can play off of other people's abilities.

[squirrelwrangler]

Got around to reading Tress of the Emerald Sea

and without knowing it was directly inspired by The Princess Bride I immediate caught those vibes. Very cute, some good lines, Sanderson's strengths instead of weaknesses when it comes to prose (He can make it PAINFUL to read his stories sometimes because he's so bland that it actively hinders his plot) but the fourth-wall breaking Hoid narrator fixed that. Plus even though it was heavy on the planet-crossing Cosmere elements, because it was more central to the story instead of the obnoxious blatant cameos that it is in later Mistborn and Roshar (Cosmere is self-indulgent in a way that detracts from those series for my tastes, being too much for a fun easter egg and thus tripping up world-building and plot but not enough to fully justify its outsized presence). It's also something similar to what I'll dislike in Dianna Wynne Jones novels. This time because it was the main villain and curse-break solution, thus a category above the rest of the plot magic and by virtue of story structures allowed to be something outside normal context, having them be literal aliens plus the more flippant tone worked for Tress where it wouldn't in another novel. And for once the avalanche of plot at the climax wasn't as terribly paced into that meme'd avalanche as it often is for him. Yet again BS wrote a funky planet with a multi-element but neatly categorized science-y flavored hard magic system (with a rumored extra element) and okay that's fun but I'm done with them. It's too predictable in that there's a very recognizable Sanderson Magic System that he adds every time and the charm and novelty has worn off. Ironically this might be one of my favorite books from him. Ugh, though, more confirmation that while he's a fantasy author I'll eagerly read from, there's a reason why he's not in my top favorites, especially for inspiration.

[lairn]

Book 17/24: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone Rating: 3.75/5

I was hesitant to start this book because my previous experiences with urban fantasy have been lackluster, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Tara is a Craftswoman, a magician working independently of divine influence, who is hired to assist in resurrecting a dead God. To do so she must go to the God's home, the massive city of Alt Coulumb.

Gladstone's world building of the city, magic systems, and various governments is easily my favorite aspect of the story. The world is rich in detail and the capacity of magic is infinite in its possibilities. The flexibility of magic puts the logic of the world at risk of becoming a game of Calvinball, but Gladstone retains enough order to make the plot rewarding rather than absurd.

The characters are fun and moderately well-rounded, but the plot and the world are the driving elements. Gladstone lays out a mystery narrative that is not overly transparent (always a challenge) and keeps the reader busy assembling clues as the world becomes more complex and more clarified.