#scarvenartist

[tsfennec]

A lynx gryphon, inspired by @scarvenartist's Ganrok. :D

[fictionadventurer]

I can't believe we've known about @scarvenartist's Shapeshifter Stories for this long, and still haven't made "What animal would your/your OC's/your blorbo's firstform be?" the new personality quiz.

You can consider what animal fits their personality, but you also get to consider what hereditary forms fit their entire family, and which one they'd inherit. The analytical possibilities are endless!

[isfjmel-phleg]

1, 5, 17, and 19, for Amarantha?

1 What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

I don't remember when I was struck with the idea of making a sequel to the original Blackberry Bushes story that would feature Elystan's nurse's daughter, but it was a pretty early concept (I was about fourteen then). The original drawing of Amarantha still exists somewhere. The story was more about how she and Elystan have an adventure together after going through the blackberry bush portal to the real world and getting accidentally stuck there, but the basic arc about her relationship with Elystan was present. Not much else to her at that point, though. I did know what her basic temperament was. That was one of the first things I decided.

5 How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

I originally chose her name because the amaranth flower had magical significance in the world of the story, back when it was still a very bad fantasy. It is an actual name, meaning "unfading," though I've never heard it used anywhere else--CORRECTION: I just made the mistake of googling it and found out that it's also the name of a character in one of those awful "A Court of..." type books. I used it first though!

So later when I dropped the amaranth thing, I didn't want to change Amarantha's name because I'd gotten used to it, so I came up with the in-universe excuse of her father the part-time poet not being able to help himself when naming his child.

17 Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?

Her concept of The Hedge. The discussion of her favorite color of maroon and Elystan's later being associated with teal as a signal that they are complements. Her interest in portraiture as a means of conveying character, which connects with her belief that she objectively understands who people really are, when in fact she's very subjectively sketching them through the lens of her biases--but her art will improve as she becomes less judgmental and more genuinely insightful. Her pinned-up braids, as a visual for her uptightness and how her early encounter with Elystan has had a lasting effect (he pulled her loose hair then, so she's ensuring that no one can do anything like that to her again).

19 What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?

I like that she's what I would consider a rare type in fiction: a quiet angry girl. Quiet female characters tend to be calm and patient and saintly and diffident in constrast to the outgoing spirited girls who are usually the only ones who get to experience emotions like anger, and while there are a lot of amazing characters that fit this pattern, it's a dichotomy that can be overdone and restrictive. Amarantha is quiet, generally polite, and conscientious; she is also an angry jerk. These are things that can exist at the same time, this is something that I can find relatable, and I enjoy trying to make her a believable person rather than one of a few acceptable archetypes.

Least favorite, though...she's not always easy to write, and if I'm not careful, there's a temptation to reduce her to her relationships and not develop her as a distinctive character in her own right.

[bookshelf-in-progress]

2 and 9 for the writing asks?

2. Describe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

Victorian England + 1850s American politics + pro life debates + glowing people = Shadowstruck

9. What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

I'd love to write the portal fantasy culture shock romance of Lily Between Worlds, but I've yet to write a word of an actual draft.

Also, over the past day, I keep seeing things that make me want to read/write my retelling of "King Thrushbeard" set during the Great Depression.

[valiantarcher]

Tagged by @scarvenartist to explain why I picked my URL - thank you!

So, the short answer is that it's been a general username for me for a while and it was natural to carry it over to Tumblr when I came here.

The slightly longer answer is that it originally came about because I was looking for a new username for a site because my old default had already been taken. I wasn't coming up with anything but a sister (being much clever at these sorts of things than me) suggested it as a reference to a fictional character I'm fond of, and I haven't looked back.

Tagging @morfinwen, @wanderingwolpertinger, @theworldiswhispering, @aceofstars16, and @stingrayextraordinaire, if they so desire!

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

4 and 10 for the end of year writing asks!

Thanks! :D

4. what is your favourite line you wrote this year?: This paragraph from Silver Glass:

Because in this case Yo-han really didn't believe that justice was best served by publicly revealing the murderer's identity. Because sometimes murder victims weren't really victims at all. Because there were some criminals who the law couldn't or wouldn't touch, and the only way their victims could get justice was to take matters into their own hands.

10. which character(s) turned out differently from what you had planned? how so?: Davit and Gwladys. Originally Davit was working with Dzovig from the start, Çelik Bey was the intended murder victim, and Gwladys got killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then I started writing, and Gwladys turned into Rachael 2.0.

[urban-hart]

A song you associate with Caspar!

okay i was. way overcomplicating this ask set ^^' so I'm FINALLY just gonna answer

'Fool for Love' by Lord Huron! definitely has Caspar's vibe. doesn't match his story part-for-part, but it's the bit about trying! the vibe of just drifting into oblivion in the end *throws hands* how else can i say it other than THE VIBES??

character theme song ask

[healerqueen]

writing update

I am very happy to report that I AM WRITING!! A lot. At last. I have the discipline and drive to sit down and work every day if the time is right. Stress, health, busyness, client work, and other priorities have held me back for the last few months. It just wasn't a season for writing. But now I'm back. I actually prayed the other night, asking God to help me write, because I want to write so much and haven't been able to. And he answered!

I decided to just sit down and start re-outlining my novel manuscript from beginning to end. It's called a reverse outline--a new outline of the first draft and the changes I plan to make, before continuing with the revised draft. It helps so much to have a road map for my revisions, and to have something to work on each day. I don't have to think about it. I'm still carrying every scene of this novel inside my head, along with all the changes I plan to make. All I have to do is write it down and do the work in front of me, instead of wondering what I'm going to write each day. I am able to push myself again now that I don't have stress or health concerns holding me back. And my discipline and motivation gives me the ability to sit down and work each day. It's sometimes a little hard to get started (procrastination is the enemy), but once I get going, I sometimes write for hours--and an hour or two is usually enough to give me a full day's quota. I wrote 2900 new words of outlining each day for two days, and then 1600 words of outlining today. I've written a summary of 24 scenes, and I'm almost a quarter of the way through the outline. I ended up spending the rest of the day drafting a rewritten scene from start to finish. I was outlining the scene, and I realized I'd better just sit down and draft instead. So I got out a pen and opened my drafting notebook, and I didn't stop till I'd rewritten the entire scene from scratch, several hours later. Now I have something to edit, between the new version of the scene and the old draft. That is very encouraging. It's going well, and I'm grateful to God for helping me and giving me energy and focus. It's a daunting task to rewrite this manuscript from start to finish, but all I can do is keep going. And I'm encouraged knowing that I'm on my way.

[tsfennec]

Stylized version of @scarvenartist's Kiro and Nezka in their shifted forms, loosely inspired by the descriptions of Nezka seeing his forms while traveling in the Nothing.

[fictionadventurer]

Book asks - The Monster-Blood Tattoo series by D.M. Cornish?

added to TBR | on my TBR | couldn’t finish it | did not enjoy | it was OK | liked it | loved it | favorite | not interested

I had to think a while on this one. My initial reaction was no, because I tend not to mix well with things with "monster" in the title. Looking up the series made it sound very intriguing, but the magic system might edge just a bit beyond what I'm comfortable with, so I'm not sure I'll seek it out.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Happy Birthday, Elystan! Have you read any good books recently? (Or, alternatively--anything you really disliked?)

Elystan: I was reading a brilliant book, a translation from the Rurakravian, before I came to school--Flight of Fantasy by Mrs. Ioannova. But Her Majesty took it away and hid it, and it took me months to find it and slip it into my valise for the journey to school. I finished it on the train while she was sleeping. I've never read another book that has whirled in my head as much as this one. The hero is clever but he's an idiot but he's tragic but he's horrible and I spent half of the book wanting to argue with him and the other half wanting to be him if I grow up. And then--I don't know if you've read Flight of Fantasy, lots of people haven't because it's daunting if you're an inexperienced reader, but I'm going to spoil the ending for you anyway--it just ends! Unresolved! Apparently there are more volumes, but no one has translated them yet. I wish I know Mrs. Ioannova's address so I could coax some answers out of her, but I don't know if she reads Coregean or even if she's still alive. I suppose I'll just have to learn Rurakravian for myself then. How difficult can it be?

Another book I've read recently was the Duchess of Arclis's new novel. Don't tell Delclis. Or do. I don't care. He could use a shock. She may have been a rubbish monarch, but she's quite an amusing author. I was roaring with laughter the whole time. It's called A Woman of Great Importance, and it's about a lady artist starving in an attic or something who ends up having to impersonate a society woman and has so much fun doing it that she decides to make a profession of impersonating wealthy people--they engage her to do it so they can take a holiday from their lives in peace--and of course it leads to misadventures. Quite entertaining.

And yes, I did read something that I want to obliterate from the earth. Her Majesty very kindly purchased me one of those trifiling little schoolboy magazines to read on the train, as if I were eight years old, and I had to read it in front of her or I wouldn't have heard the end of it, and the very first story was exceptionally stupid even by these magazines' standards. Some drivel about some self-righteous prigs of prefects at a school forcing a boy who has a doctor's note for a bad heart to play rugball for the school anyway, because anyone who has such a note is just shamming so they can slack off. They convince him to do this by applying their swagger-sticks to him until he admits the note is a forgery, and then he has to play, and the school wins the match, which is of course the only desirable thing that can ever happen. There were more school stories in the magazine, and they were all more or less like that. If this is what the other boys here are reading, it explains a lot about them.

[It's my OC Elystan's birthday, ask him anything!]

[bookshelf-in-progress]

1, 8, 13 and 15 for the end of year writing asks?

what was your writing-highlight this year? what made it special and how will you reflect on it next year?

"The True Story" was definitely the highlight. After two years of struggling and failing to write an epistolary fantasy, and more years of failing to write anything longer than about 5,000 words, to write a 10,000-word epistolary fantasy in just over three days was close to a miracle.

I had fun writing original characters! I got to make use of the Imaginary Book Recs! I got the closest I'll ever come to writing Cardinal's Map! I just let myself have fun and somehow it managed to come together in a story that mostly works and that accomplishes what I wanted it to do. It was amazing on a lot of different levels. I'm going to look back on it--and the wonderful feedback--very fondly.

8. what are three things you’re looking forward to next year?

Writing more retellings. I'd specifically like to finish either my "Tattercoats" or "Twelve Huntsmen" retelling as a slightly-longer work, but there are also some shorter stories I'm looking forward to exploring.

Trying to write slightly longer work, ideally an original story.

Writing something that's been edited. I'd like to try using beta readers again instead of just posting lightly-edited first drafts.

13. how did you change as a writer? did you learn anything new? started to plan instead of pants? share your wisdom!

My Inklings Challenge experience--especially with "The True Story"--make me reevaluate my writing habits. I learned that while I need to have a rough idea of the kind of story I'm telling and what ending I'm aiming for, it works better if I don't know everything. The story takes a more natural shape if I let the details that pop up during drafting determine the direction the story goes.

While writing the stories I posted at the end of December, I further developed this insight into three related maxims.

The story starts at the beginning. No matter what cool ideas you have for the overall work, the story unspools in a sequence of words beginning from the first scene, so you have to sink into that scene and let the story flow from there.

Develop the meta after you write. Getting too deep into the the characters and themes during the brainstorming process makes it very difficult to translate that to words on the page. Writing first and then digging deeper into the meta makes the process work much better.

The beautiful story that exists in your head should be the inspiration, not the goal. The words you write on the page are never going to be able to capture the layered emotions of your daydream. Instead, use that daydream as motivation to start writing, and then get excited about the (similar but not the same) story that exists on the page.

15. time for shameless self-promotion! answer with a piece of writing you want others to see/read!

Even though it's an unfinished piece of fiction, I'm still fond of my Anne of Green Gables meets fairy tales Island verse, and "The Sylph in the Storm" was built out of one of my favorite pieces of it, so I'll give it a shout-out here.

[e-louise-bates]

Oh my goodness, you guys, @scarvenartist did it again! After her perfectly smashing job of Maia's portrait, I commissioned her to do a portrait of Len to go along with it, and just look at what she came up with! This absolutely IS Lennox Davies, spy, detective, and magician. Ahhh! I'm so delighted with this!

I'll do another post later of both portraits so you all can see how well they go together, but for right now I want Len to get his moment in the spotlight all on his own.

Thank you again, @scarvenartist! These have been my first-ever commissions of art for my books, and I couldn't be happier with them!

[inklings-challenge]

Inklings Challenge 2024: Team Lewis

It is time to officially announce the members of Team Lewis for the 2024 Inklings Challenge

Members of Team Lewis are challenged to write a science fiction or fantasy story within the Christian worldview that fits into one of these two genres:

Portal Fantasy: Stories where someone from the real world explores a new world

Space Travel: Stories about traveling through space or exploring other planets

These genres are open to interpretation, and creativity is encouraged. You can use either or both of the prompts within your story, or if you’re feeling ambitious, you can write multiple stories.

Members of Team Lewis are also asked to use at least one of the following seven Christian themes to inspire some part of their story.

Admonish the sinner

Instruct the ignorant

Counsel the doubtful

Comfort the sorrowful

Bear wrongs patiently

Forgive all injuries

Pray for the living and the dead

Writers are challenged to complete and post their story to a tumblr blog by October 21, 2024, though they are encouraged to post earlier if they finish their story before that date. There is no maximum or minimum word limit. Writers who have not completed their stories before the deadline are encouraged to post whatever they have written by October 21st and post the remainder at a later date. Writers are also welcome to post the entire story after the deadline.

Posting the Stories

All stories will be reblogged and archived on the main Inklings Challenge blog. To assist with organization, writers should tag their posts as follows:

Mention the main Challenge blog @inklings-challenge somewhere within the body of the post (which will hopefully alert the Challenge blog).

Tag the story #inklingschallenge, to ensure it shows up in the Challenge tag, and make it more likely that the Challenge blog will find it.

Tag the team that the author is writing for: #team lewis, #team tolkien, or #team chesterton. 

Tag the genre the story falls under: #genre: portal fantasy, #genre: space travel, #genre: secondary world, #genre: time travel, #genre: intrusive fantasy, #genre: earth travel

Tag any themes that were used within the story: #theme: admonish, #theme: instruct, #theme: counsel, #theme: comfort, #theme: patience, #theme: forgive, #theme: pray

Tag the completion status of the story: #story: complete or #story: unfinished

Team Members

The writers assigned to Team Lewis are:

@ashknife

@asjdklfeuwqoi

@atlantic-riona

@awesomebutunpractical

@bean-with-a-blog

@beneathascorpionsky

@butahumbleguest

@caffeinecath

@caitriona-3

catrina

@challenger2013

@confetti-cat

@cygnascrimbles

@dimsilver

@ettawritesnstudies

@for-the-writing-artist

@freenarnian

@friedwritinggamingghost

@gailyinthedark

@ghostrider-02

@glassheadcanon

@greater-than-the-sword

@heepthecheep

@lady-larklight

@ladyphlogiston

@lauravanarendonkbaugh

@leseigneurdufeu

@littlegirl-arise

@magpie-trove

@muse-write

@n1ghtcrwler

@nervousbookmouse

@on-noon

@onewingedsparrow

@popcornfairy28

@rachellesedai

@saxifrage-wreath

@scarvenartist

@septembersung

@siena-sevenwits

@aussie-the-hedgehog

@tzarina-alexandra

@unquietfaith

@windwardrose

Writing resources, including the Challenge overview, FAQ, writing prompts, and discussions of the genres are available at the Inklings Challenge Directory. Any writers with further questions can contact the Inklings Challenge blog for guidance.

Welcome to the Inklings Challenge, everyone! Now go forth and create!

[siena-sevenwits]

Some live reactions to the first scene of An Illusion of Wings by @scarvenartist

“Mist rose from the icy canal, fog swirling around the eight ghostly monuments arrayed on both sides of the bridge.” – WHAT a wonderfully atmospheric opening! The tone – the visual! And the rest of the paragraph is a cut gem too – I can see this, I can feel this. It gives a remarkable sense of city’s age and the time of year. And given what I know of this story, that shapeshifting into animals is a feature of the story, it’s very fitting to start with these images of heraldic beasts. Reminds me ever so slightly of the opening montage of shots in the film adaptation of A Man for All Seasons.

Man. The way you plummet us straight into this duel situation while evoking all these hints of the broader worldbuilding. I’m impressed.

I had to look up “sable hat” and am pleased that I now know the name for those things. I am now educated.

“But I had been wandering the streets for hours in a futile search for my thieving feral sister, and these privileged gentlemen had decided to settle some insult on a public thoroughfare, inconveniencing everyone else. It offended me.” I love how voicey she is – this is so expressive of someone just done. Just absolutely done. “Thieving, feral sister” – the frustration in those words! And now these chaps dare to block up a public footpath with their stupid potential-murder-tiff – it’s just rude, it is.

Gonna call it now – this is going to be all my favourite things combined. (I have an advantage in that I read an older version of the first chapter of this story once before, but I still feel justified in calling it now.)

Yeah, Cazda, you’re taking all the angsty brooding out of the situation! Have some manners, dear!

As someone who struggles with finding smooth ways to slip a character’s age in organically, I applaud the way you got the fact she’s sixteen in early in a way that further characterizes both Gospodin Spectacles here and Cazda – he’s condescending in his elation, she’s touchy (though understandably so just now.)

Again, I’m at an advantage having read another version of this part, though it was some time ago and it’s only coming back to me as I read. But in light of that advantage – masterfully done, dropping that hint about how he wasn’t there when the initial offense that gave rise to the duel happened – that he’s not the man he appears to be. His remarks about “believing he had to be restrained” and all. And when Cazda catches that it’s a strange thing to say, he plays it off in words that might make us assume he was drunk at the time, and not wonder about it any further.

The description of his eyes turning “brittle blue” is very striking.

Cazda seeing the guardswoman and picturing herself similarly is a good character establishing moment – glimpses of what she values (“authoritative, confident, independent”). what she aspires to.

Oh, whoa, Officer, you’re putting a sabre to a young girl’s throat? You mean business! Yike!

I’m so curious now – her father was arrested? She was interrogated? She felt a confused guilt? There’s intriguing stuff here to be uncovered.

A teen girl wearing her father’s old coat – another hint about her circumstances and her family’s.

Swallow-man (Kiro, I know it’s Kiro, and I’ve loved him for years now even before my earlier reading foray because he’s so characterful in the art) is well-known to the police – at least his tendency to disappear as a swallow is. Oooh, and not just to the police it seems. OK, the Firebird, sure, he’d probably like that better than “Swallow-man.” Cazda doesn’t seem so inclined to be impressed, and indeed seems eager to disillusion her siblings. It will be interesting to see how much of this is a temporary fit of frustration and how much is her normal character.

Just the sight of the coin makes her stomach churn with hunger- yes, she and her family are in a bad way.

Nezka! I don’t really remember her much from the previous read, but I know she’s feral Magpie younger sister!

Hm – having a different human face is more serious that shapeshifter duelling. Yeah, I can see why that would be considered more dangerous to society in the eyes of the law.

And we're ending the scene with a return to Cazda's envy of the guardswoman - significant, foreshadowing.

[healerqueen]

Should I do the Inklings Challenge? It would be my first time, and I have no idea if it would work for me. I'm not sure I'll be able to come up with anything or have time to write it. I'm currently focusing on my own writing and other projects, and I don't want to take a break now that I'm making so much progress on my manuscript. I also have extra work right now for clients (editing and tutoring), which takes priority. But I kind of want to do it, even if I'm drawing a complete blank about what I'd write. I do have one really interesting fantastical story that I've been wanting to write, but I'm not sure it will fit any of the challenge genres (especially a random assignment). Ah...but I do think it would fit one of the themes! That's a start. Thoughts? @fictionadventurer @scarvenartist @freenarnian @thejoyousjester @incomingalbatross