#myrk mire Abelyn

[catt-nuevenor]

Location Change

Right, quick update on the stories. I'm currently on my final read through before submission on the fixed narrative story. Hopefully I'll be sending it off to literary agents within the month.

That means more and more of my brain is tip-toeing its way back to Myrk Mire, and it's had some thoughts.

I don't really consider them spoilers, but treat this as a soft warning for story content.

As you may recall, I want the story of Myrk Mire to be 100% cannon with the fixed narrative story, this presents certain problems I didn't have to contemplate in the previous iteration of the story or characters. Previously you were able to pick the genders of the romantic interests and for those choices to have rather large implications for the continuing narrative. I still want to give folks that choice, but, it means I have eight characters to integrate instead of four.

Let's have a quick refresher:

Previously:

Peyton (M) or Peidyn (F)

Anadora (F) or Abelyn (M)

Louis (M) or Leila (F)

Kelda (F) or Keldan (M)

New Characters:

Plehtin (M) and Pursa (F) Starling, cousins.

Anadora (F) and Abjalin (M) Webja, siblings born roughly seven months apart.

Leiz (M) and Leila (F) Fyls, twins.

Cwylla (F) and Celd (M), friends.

Right, with that lot out in the open, don't you think the old setting of the lodging house would get a touch, cramped with all these folks crammed inside? Plus, of course, our protagonist and their offspring. Speaking of which, I have another post to write-up about the protagonist. Or rather protagonists...

Anywho, my thought is this: rather than setting the main events in the lodging house, I'd set them in the tavern/pub instead. Mawkin's Watch for those who need the prompt. Previously this was run by Myne (Myrna), cousin to the main character's landlord/lady. I'm now planning for it to be a joint Starling enterprise between Myne, Plehtin, and Pursa, with rooms attached for rent. The Fyl siblings, the main character and littlun, and our eventual swampy lurkers, can all pile into said rooms, while the Webja siblings can live with Erda just across the marketplace but spend all their free time with the folks in the tavern. Keeps the cosy atmosphere without the elbowing for space, and helps me explain why the Starlings are all under one roof all the time without contrivance.

More details on storylines and some pronunciation help on the new names can be found in this post:

Intertwining Fictions

Now to figure out the post about the MC... eeep.

[anxietytwist]

... are you sure about that??? 🤔

[ddwcaph-game]

Marjorie "Maggie" Dela Cruz and Thomas Ryan "Wayne" Dela Cruz, my MCs for Myrk Mire!

If Erda could hear, she would be cackling right now. I love her cackles so much. 😄

So, I've wanted to make some fanart for Myrk Mire (@catt-nuevenor) for quite a while now. It also just came to me recently that I never made a drawing of Wayne (or Rosie) with Maggie before, so thankfully I have the perfect excuse…

I'm very happy with how this turned out, so I hope you like it! 😊Although I realized too late that their outfits might be a little anachronistic, sooo let's just say that they came to The Mire in a plot hole. 😉

Some fun facts and headcanons:

Maggie is still hopeful that she'll find Marrin, but she can't deny that she's interested in her friend Abelyn.

Wayne still misses his missing father (he keeps a portrait of him in his locket), although he doesn't see a problem with having two dads.

Maggie and Wayne are charm and trinket crafters. Wayne loves making trinkets, and he keeps a collection of those he successfully made himself as keychains for his bag (with some help from Maggie, of course). She was injured in the marsh after rescuing Keldan, while they were looking for crafting materials.

Maggie would rather let Wayne do his own thing, but she's had to be a little more strict (well, go along with his adventures) because he's too silly and playful for his own good.

Wayne is a total mama's boy, but he has grown close enough to his mommy's friends that he doesn't bother hiding it anymore.

Maggie still carries Wayne from time to time, but only because she knows she won't be able to do it anymore soon.

Wayne loves singing and always asks his mommy to sing him a lullaby before going to bed (after drinking some milk).

Wayne is a leap day baby and likes to tell people that he's only 1 and 3/4 years old.

Wayne wishes that he has a little sister.

Anyway, Happy Halloween! 🎃

[catt-nuevenor]

Intertwining Fictions

Still pottering on with the editing process, I'm through the first third of the book, with the worst and oldest of the choppy narrative behind me and hopefully a smoother run from here on out.

While working through a bit of foreshadowing today, I came to a section where the story of TBT and Myrk Mire intertwine, and I thought it would be a good time to address that with you folks.

Myrk Mire and TBT share a universe, a timeline, and (though it might not be immediately obvious) many characters. This is something I'm really excited about, and frankly makes me slightly giddy every time I come to a section in one that underpins events in the other.

Below might be considered minor spoilers for folks who want to go into things completely blind, but there are also some important things like character names and genders for the RO's as well, so enter with that foreknowledge.

Let's get the elephant out of the room first and foremost. Currently, there are 4 characters in Myrk Mire (not including the MC and the Child) whose gender and name vary dependent upon player/reader choice. Obviously, this becomes a sticking point when it comes to integration with linear fixed narrative fiction.

So here's what's going to happen from this point onwards (the demo for Myrk Mire will eventually get updated once TBT is out on submission and I have more time on my hands):

There will be eight characters instead of the four, related to each other either by blood or association. There will also be some name adjustment to fit in better with the naming conventions of TBT and its tighter world building. So...

Peyton/Peidyn will become cousins, Plehtin and Pursa Starling, with Plehtin taking on the role of the previously combined gendered character while Pursa is the sister of Myne (previously Myrna).

Anadora/Abelyn will be sister and brother, born roughly seven months apart. Ana gets to keep her old name. Abelyn is now Abjalin, or Abja for short. Their story, as far as you folks know it, remains unchanged, but shared between the two of them.

Louis/Leila are twins, and Louis is now Leiz. Nothing much has been revealed about them so far in Myrk Mire, so only change for readers is really that the dynamic duo is now a dynamic trio. Lars is perfect just as he is.

Kelda/Keldan our mysterious little troublemakers/creepy lurkers, are close friends with one another, having been in and out of each other's lives for a long time. Keldan become Celd (pronounced as if it were a K, Keld), while Kelda becomes Cwylla (again, think K-w-ewl-la).

Right, now I realise the other elephant in the room is the MC and Child, and trust me when I say I'm devoting a lot of time and brain power into trying to figure out just how they're going to work in all this, but for now I'd like you to hold in your minds the idea that rather than a lone pair, they might be travelling with something of a larger group of companions when they first reach Aldmirham.

To round everything off, here is an extract from TBT that highlights the interweaving. No major spoilers, only hints and what's to come.

Hopefully I've given you all something to chew over. Back to the editing for me.

[catt-nuevenor]

Upcoming Demo Update

Myrk Mire's Demo will be updated on Monday the 15th of August at 10pm GMT.

It'll include just over 170,000 words, and Peyton, Peidyn, Abelyn, and Anadora's Romance, Platonic, and Friendship Routes (where you can still see their scenes without being on their specific path).

The update will Break Your Save Files, so if you have unfinished business in your current playthroughs you have just over 48 hours to round things off.

There are also some new systems updates, but I'll explain more about those on release day.

The demo update time is meant to cater to my North and South American Continent Readers. I try and be fair to everyone in a rough cycle, so the next demo release's schedule after this one will be geared towards folks in East Asia and Oceania.

I hope you're all looking forward to it!

[catt-nuevenor]

Hi! I really love Myrk Mire, to the point where (I think) I have made every choice haha. I was curious about your ideas for the RO's voices; in terms of general volume, pitch, and things like that. Thanks!

Oh this is such a good ask!

And definitely going to eat up the morning no end... Into the world of obscure actors we go!

(All of these are with an English accent)

Peyton:

Sam Claflin

Peidyn:

Laura Donnelly or Joely Richardson (not sure but that bit where Joely goes "come here sweet girl, let me hug you" has me almost sold, then Laura's fierceness pulls me to the opposite again)

Abelyn:

Paul Bettany (Not this fancy but I think this clips shows a good range from mister Bettany)

Anadora:

Miranda Raison (in interview rather than in character, and I think I might have a new crush from the end of that interview...)

Louis:

Jamie Bell (a little younger than he is here, but you get the impression)

Leila:

Cara Theobold (Oh she is soo precious!)

Keldan:

Mathew Goode

Kelda:

Ruth Wilson (I mean... dang her voice)

(And in my wanderings I found this, and it's glorious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E4TOHGO0Ms)