#the feychild ask game

[ominous-feychild]

✦ Q&A WIP/OC Tag ✦

I've been pushing off doing this for a while, but omfg have I gotten a lot of tags from you guys!!! Has this been y'all's way of saying you want to ask questions??? 🤣😭

Thanks for the tags, @honeybewrites (here), @fantasy-things-and-such (here), @the-letterbox-archives (here), and I'm sorry if I've missed anyone else? 😭

Note: as I want to avoid spoilers, I may elect to not answer some questions! I apologize in advance, but I also want to allow you guys to be able to pick and choose from a larger variety of characters and topics! (In good part because it might help me work on things I haven't yet, but you didn't hear that from me. 👀)

If it makes you feel better, I can also tell you guys which questions I'm going to choose not to answer for spoiler reasons? Maybe tell me in the comments if you think that's something I should do? Idk, haha. 😅

Characters

Sun and Shadow

Freya Ula Crow the Cursed Daleira Fenastra Valyarus Fenastra Ponderosa Marlon Pesce Soren Ula Grimnir (the criminal detective) Faer

The Arcane Rifts

overview Gene (the amnesiac) Tazin (the theater kid) (pending; releases in 5 hours of reblog) Mislav (the berserker) Oska (the literal gang leader) Rieka (the badass/khonitva's healer) Adilzhan (the priest) Ludmila (the leader) Nikolai (the police captain)

last but not least, feel free to ask about Rising From the Ashes, but be warned I'll probably address them after any/all questions about the others first!!! RFtA is a project I won't be writing for a long time, but I've shared plenty about it and I'm sure people have questions!

Rising From the Ashes

Carmin Leveque Nora Beck Sammy Bardales Kieva Caron Kieran Caron Varik Caron Elazi (crown prince of Kihroin) Riaan (king of Kihroin) Roman Leveque (protector)

PLEASE LIMIT ASKS TO ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME! It's okay if you send a few different asks, I'll just be overwhelmed if there's too many questions in one! <3

Other Stuff

THE ALL-MIGHTY AND POWERFUL GODS

The Glavni Gods Zhrizn Rholvny Ertzat Bhayol Zhelevol / Spasin

The Existentials (they aren't all gay, I'm just doing multiple colors for... reasons) Fate Chaos Order (also Life) Magic Death (also... something Else?)

Axiom Freya's Nine

Magic Stuff

General Overview Magical "Sources" Existential magic Axiomatic magic Innate magic Granted magic "Fae-touched" Runic magic / Wizards Conduits Curses Faespots The Faewildes

Feel free to ask questions about worldbuilding, other characters, or anything else you've noticed that I didn't include here! In the case of characters I haven't mentioned, though, it's very possible they're spoiler-ridden or just not very important, haha.

PLEASE LIMIT ASKS TO ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME! It's okay if you send a few different asks, I'll just be overwhelmed if there's too many questions in one! <3

Tagging (with no pressure!): @the-golden-comet @darkandstormydolls @themboty and I want to hold off on tagging more just in case people have already received one! Open tags though! <3

Divider from @cafekitsune

[the-golden-comet]

✨QnA WIP AMA Tag✨

Thank you for the tags, @the-letterbox-archives here , @ominous-feychild here, @pluppsauthor here, @willtheweaver here! Very interesting tag game this time! (Thank you to @nczaversnick for the tag as well!! 💖✨)

Rules/Premise: Open the floor for questions about your Stories/WIPs/OCs/creative processes, etc.

Ask me anything about my stories, my OCs, my schedule, how I write, what I write, etc. You can use my ask box, reblogs, separate posts, comments, anywhere and anyhow! I’ll be more than happy to answer! 💫

My Stories:

Peter Hart

Your Wish Is My Command

In The Realm of Giants

Tenshito

Lone Star Rangers

Operation: Relations

My main cast OCs:

Peter Hart

Peter

Benjamin

Davey

Your Wish Is My Command

Noah

Ali

In the Realm of Giants

Tyr

Gustav

Tenshito

Tenshi

Shito

Yoji

Lone Star Rangers

Jak

Johnny

Operation: Relations

Nathan

X

And a link to Peter Hart for those who wish to read the full story:

Consider this an ✨open tag✨

✨👇Tag list for writing tidbits below. DM me if you’d like to be added👇✨

Tag List for writing tidbits (lmk if you want + or -)

@autism-purgatory , @jev-urisk , @talesofsorrowandofruin , @sunglasses-in-the-bentley , @wyked-ao3 , @glasshouses-and-stones , @alinacapellabooks , @gioiaalbanoart , @fortunatetragedy , @deanwax , @dyrewrites , @honeybewrites , @drchenquill , @paeliae-occasionally , @lychhiker-writes , @thatuselesshuman , @kaylinalexanderbooks , @katenewmanwrites , @zackprincebooks , @fantasy-things-and-such , @finickyfelix , @billybatsonmylove , @madi-konrad , @houseplantblank , @far-cry-from-finality , @froggy-pposto , @fractured-shield , @avaseofpeonies , @topazadine , @thecoolerlucky , @theaistired , @willtheweaver , @rivenantiqnerd @somethingclevermahogony , @noxxytocin , @leahnardo-da-veggie , @addicted2coke-theothercoke , @illarian-rambling , @mysticstarlightduck , @the-letterbox-archives

[the-letterbox-archives]

is there a muse or inspiration you draw from when it comes to your stories? you just have so many and i’m wondering what fountain of immortal writing youth you drank from, dawg LMAO

last ask before signing off! but this is such a fun one to think about!

i don't have one surefire source of inspiration (other than my chronically silly brain), each story has a different landing pad that usually consists of a random thing that i've taken inspiration from, and a question to drive the work (some are very edgy or philosophical haha). they come from incredibly random sources, but i can list the ones i remember!

tales from a dying heart

where it came from: i wanted to write an anthology as a break from my old novella structure, and i was thinking about love. obviously i had to fuck it up because god forbid anything on the archives is happy. fun fact: that was originally the only story the archives was meant to hold! it was the first and only story, and the blog used to be themed after tales from a dying heart entirely (that's why my current pfp is still the heart itself)!

driving question: "why does love hurt people?"

the rockdove promise

where it came from: originally a group project that i had the idea for (i was itching to write something with mythology and more classic fantasy if that makes sense). when the others couldn't continue it, i had already fallen in love with the world and gods, so i added more to the worldbuilding, and added characters i was passionate about (and found my first ever character punching bag, laszlo).

driving question: "how can we save what we care about from oppressive control?"

insincere.

where it came from: i had one of my worst days where i couldn't get out of bed. i had the idea to channel the feelings into a story, so i got out of bed, and wrote insincere., then decided i wanted to keep it going after my initial bad day.

driving question: "how can we feel happy?"

on kingston alley

where it came from: someone, i think it was @noxxytocin, added me in a tag game that involved writing a scene with the provided line. i was a young, growing archivist back then and didn't understand the concept, so i wrote a short screenplay, giving it a fun mystery hook (because i felt like it) and some repressed sapphics, then decided to continue it because the format was so freeing!

driving question: "why do we forget the victims?"

school rules

where it came from: a novel i abandoned because the format wasn't clicking. i axed the mc, replaced them with sunny and remade the old mc to be what is now darcy spencer, and changed the format to my first ever first person story since my first novella!

driving question: "how does academic pressure hurt us?"

the dumaresq poems

where it came from: i was getting overwhelmed with my own expectations for uploads from the rest of volume 1, so i dug up some old poems of mine, rewrote them a bit, and put a cute woodsy aesthetic over it!

driving question: "how can poetry tell us emotional stories?"

the hunt is a dance

where it came from: another project with a friend that fell through, it didn't change much from then. i took the friends desired ideals of religious and folk horror and intertwined it with my own narratives of power, hatred, and misguided justice.

driving question: "why do we bend to corruption, and how can we stop?"

TITANSPINE

where it came from: @ominous-feychild and i were discussing some of her lore, and we both bonded over our love of telepaths/prophets in stories. i had always been fascinated by urban fantasy and had a vague desire to make it, but magic systems are so hard for me. that conversation sparked a drive to actually make it. i named it red velvet, then barlowe told me to change the it (thanks for that btw), and i created the protagonist that shaped the whole story and it's themes.

driving question: "how can we fight social and police corruption?"

n3xt y3ar

where it came from: scandal after scandal, feud after feud about the existence of generative ai and it snubbing real creatives tipped me over the edge, so i wrote n3xt y3ar out of spite, imbuing it with a main character near and dear to my heart due to our similarities, and a world i both loathe and fear. let's see a robot make a story with that motivation. fuckers.

driving question: "how do us creatives find hope in a world of generative ai?"

soleil éteint

where it came from: i wanted to write another fiction podcast style story (school rules technically being the first), and i was on a magnus archives high. i'm fascinated by fear in the real world, and dreams in writing, so with the motivation of some great fiction podcasts, i began writing soleil éteint, which flowed very quickly since screenplays and podcasts are quite easy for me to write as it turns out!

driving question: "how can we stop running away from fear?"

shatter the shield

where it came from: i realised i was long overdue for some tragic gays, and i wanted to experiment with a more distinct narrator without writing a fully discursive piece like a podcast or screenplay. as i was writing the prologue, i knew the narrator, kåre, wasn't the main character. but the love i gave him for the main character, roshan, was so palpable, it made me want to continue the story. i knew by how i wrote it that kåre was going to die, and soon, but i think that added an extra level to the themes of the story.

driving question: "why can't we accept love, and why can't we process grief?"

and of course, volumes 3 and 4 come from even more random places lmao- hope this explained my random writing process!

[an-indecisive-nerd]

Adopting one of my characters

Okay so @thecomfywriter Uno reversed my ask on me here, so here we go.

I desperately want to adopt Faine. He already has an adopted mother and she's great but honestly this man just has so much trauma that he needs to be readopted as an adult. That's breaking the rules of my own game though, so I can't say him. (Yes I just spent an entire paragraph talking about how I want to adopt a man who's literally 909 years older than me)

As for someone I actually want to adopt as a child, I would say the Tollemaches, but I can only adopt one and I can't separate them.

Kyro is a great choice, but he's an extremely obscure side character that might not even show up in the main book, depending on how I structure the series.

Switching books for a second, adopting the mc from Like A Movie would probably be good for him. He hasn't told me anything about his childhood, but I get the sense he wasn't loved enough.

Switching back to What's Your Story because I want to give it attention, I have so many traumatized characters that I would absolutely adopt, but a lot of them have siblings that they wouldn't want to leave behind. I would adopt Briley, since she doesn't get adopted until she's thirteen, but her adopted family is so sweet and I wouldn't want to take her from that.

I think at the moment my top option has to be Kalyani. She doesn't appear in the story for a good long while though, so you guys won't hear about her much. Sorry!

Since I mentioned Like A Movie up there I might as well briefly touch on my other wips.

The Director probably needs adopting from Appearances Are Deceiving, he didn't exactly have an easy childhood.

There are so many sad children in We All Lie Amongst The Thorns that it would be extremely unfair to choose one.

I don't think any of the MCs in Nearly Parallel Lives needs adopting. Oh scratch that actually, Bren does, definitely.

The kids in Survival Is A Team Sport have loving parents, they just get separated during the apocalypse.

I can't think of anyone that needs adopting in The Enchanted Forests at all. Arcana might, but I don't know what her childhood was like.

And that's all. Sorry for the ramblings lol

@thelovelymachinery @unforgettable-sensations @littleladymab @megamijadeheart @my-bright-legacy

@ominous-feychild @thecomfywriter @wyked-ao3 @anamelessfacelessnerd @differentnighttale

@mysticstarlightduck @the-letterbox-archives @leahnardo-da-veggie @paeliae-occasionally

[honeybewrites]

WIP Title Tag Game

Thank you @willtheweaver here @katenewmanwrites here @yourpenpaldee here @the-letterbox-archives here and @ominous-feychild here!! Sorry for the wait on these tags guys!! irl things have gotten busy and I haven't had a lot of free time!

I did Echoes of War Chronicles here if anyone is interested, so I'll do Legend of the Ancients for this one!!

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it!

Once again, my "files" are all each a specific scene because it's easier for me to piece together everything that way, and because of that, I'm not posting every one of them. It would be way too long of a post lol

Wings

Howl Wing Attack

The Trials

Vine

I also have a very new WIP I haven't talk about called Rune Storm (placeholder title). Still very new in the brainstorming process, but if you wanna ask about that, feel free!

Leaving this as an open tag for anyone that wants to hop on :D

[ominous-feychild]

✎ Elemental Writer Asks ✎

Borrowing this from @did-i-do-this-write (here) because I thought it looked like it would be fun!

🔥💧🌪️⛰️🔥💧🌪️⛰️

Water: How did you start writing?

Earth: What do you think is the foundation of your WIP?

Fire: What’s a scene that you are dying to write?

Air: What’s the easiest part of writing for you?

Shadows: What’s the darkest theme you’ve ever written about?

Lightning: What’s the most shocking plot twist you’ve ever come up with?

Rain: Have you ever made yourself cry with your own writing?  If so, what was it?

Grass: What’s the biggest change you’ve made in your WIP since you started it?

Ice: What do you always get stuck on when writing?

Sand: What’s the softest scene you’ve ever written?

Rock: How do you deal with writer’s block?

Clouds: How clearly do you picture a scene before you start writing it down?

Metal: What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Space: Where’s your favorite place to write?

Spirit: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received on your writing?

Psionics: How do you get into the heads of your characters?

Summer: How do you know when you need a break from writing?

Winter: Have you ever written a story based on a holiday?  If yes, which holiday was it for and what was it like?

Spring: Have you ever scrapped (a huge chunk of) a story to start over?  Why did the change come about?

Fall: Have you ever completely abandoned a WIP?  What led to that decision.

[ominous-feychild]

✦ OC DEEP DIVE ✦

Thanks for the tag, @the-letterbox-archives! This looks really fun!

Otherwise it would get added to my ever-building "answer this tag eventually" list... 😭

I'm going to answer these for: Sun and Shadow: Freya and Crow The Arcane Rifts: Gene and Tazin Rising From the Ashes: Sammy and Kieva

Warning: long post!

What uncommon/common fear do they have?

After the start of Sun and Shadow? A fear of the ocean, easily.

However, she's also afraid of being vulnerable, being lost, feeling alone, and not being able to trust her own senses.

Abandonment and failure.

It'd be easier listing the fears he doesn't have...

He's afraid of: the forest, being lost, not being able to trust his own senses, being deceived, anything anywhere near the uncanny valley, being/feeling trapped, saying the wrong thing (aka social anxiety literally always), authority figures, angry people, not angry people, people--

Okay, I'll stop now. I think you get it.

Is and has almost always been haunted by the fear of being abandoned. It's his greatest fear, and he constantly pushes people away or abandons them first, before they can do it to him.

Besides that, he's afraid of responsibility and ghosts (which are provably real in-universe... and he's met plenty).

Fear of losing control. Is a major control freak social manipulator who panics (internally) the moment he feels like he's lost control of a situation. Is also terrified of being/feeling trapped and being "physically constricted" (read: shackles, handcuffs, and the sort).

Terrified of feeling trapped--both physically and situationally. Particularly hates small spaces and constricting clothing. Afraid of abandonment, failure, and disappointing the people he cares about.

Instead of angsting about his fears (besides the claustro- and cleithrophobia), he uses them as a motivation to do better.

Do they have any pet peeves?

Rich people. I'm only slightly kidding. She hates fake people and nobility/the wealthy elite have always been fake in her experience. She also hates small talk, people not taking her seriously, asking her about her family, and people calling her by her full name, "Freya", instead of Frey. ... whoops.

A curse they've brought upon themself--people not taking them seriously when they want people to, haha. It's a backfiring from their acting silly to get people to underestimate them.

Similarly, people getting distracted in conversations. Their job would be SO much easier if people didn't deviate from subjects Crow wanted them on. (Though, the distractedness also makes it easier for them to happen onto subjects Crow wants to investigate, so...)

People assuming he's dumb, or asking him how he figured things out when they're super obvious? Like, c'mon. Also he's sensitive to a lot of sounds and gets annoyed by repetitive noises.

People asking him questions, hilariously enough. (Makes for a horrible and yet perfect combination with Gene...)

Similarly, hates people asking about his background, family, and nationality. Also hates repetitive noises!

Discrimination, people obsessing about/over his magic, the "elite" class in general, the shallowness of society, and people assuming things about him. He grew up on the streets and faced a lot of discrimination focused on his apparent poverty and age--though it's especially worse because he looks even younger than he is. Despite his distaste for it, he's learned to use it to his advantage.

People.

I was only slightly kidding--he's incredibly asocial, hates people trying to bother him, and mostly minds to himself. However, has a particular distaste for people asking prying questions--and especially those about his biological family.

Also, fake people, fake compliments, and people interrupting him in the middle of him doing other things (aka, literally always)--and, fuck, I've made HIM autistic, too???

(Not saying those things make him autistic. However, seeing him in my mind, as a fellow autistic... I've done it again.)

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Books, tea, and various kinds of writing utensils.

Newspapers, hidden knives, and even-better hidden art collages from newspaper and magazine cutouts!

An endless amount of books, writing utensils, Mislav and papers. Blank, filled with drawings, filled with writing--papers of all kinds!

Anything and everything fun and/or "different" for him to set on fire. Also, knives/daggers, his Svarog masks, and each of Gene's old Volos masks--up until the last version, which is still in Gene's possession.

You're assuming he has a bedroom? /hj

More seriously, haha--although he grew up on the streets, he does have a few possessions that he's kept with him at all times. One is a damaged and rusty photo locket. The other is an expensive-looking dagger and sheath given to him by someone in his past. He's never sold either, regardless of the struggles he's gone through.

After getting a bedroom upon joining the knight's college, it's perpetually full of endless potted plants, books about medical subjects (primarily composed of photos or doodles he's added to help him understand the contents), and the aforementioned dagger... though it's hidden very well.

Several sketchbooks, some filled out and others blank or half-filled out; a VERY well-hidden collection of notes from his adoptive dad, Caron, addressed to him when Kieva was younger and he's kept for all these years; and tons of hidden weapons.

Don't worry!--he got that habit from his dad, Caron. As the saying goes--a man who sleeps with a knife under his pillow is a fool every night but one. (Except there's way more than just a knife under his pillow.)

What do they notice first in a person?

How they're dressed, almost tied with how they hold themselves.

How the person holds themself. Then, their face. They are very good at memorizing faces.

Spoilers! 😁 In other words... their magical energy. But that's not very helpful here, is it? Haha, so beyond that, I'd say how they're dressed.

Their skin tone. (Because he expects white people to be immediately / especially racist toward him. Glavnran ain't a great place for a Jhandan kid to grow up.)

Their emotional state. He's always prepared to maneuver around a difficult social situation, and needs to be ready to manipulate someone into reacting more positively to him if necessary.

Simultaneously notices their face and posture. He's good at memorizing faces--partially because of how much he draws them--and uses their posture to gauge a lot of things, as taught to by his dad. You can use someone's posture to help figure out: confidence level, if they're experienced in a fight, their social class (nobility often exaggerates certain behaviors), and many other things.

(He also goes out of his way to look at their hands. One's hands can tell of their profession.)

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance? (I'm doing this assuming 5 is "average")

Emotional? 7. Physical? 3.

Physically? 9. Emotionally? 9.

Depends how you define "pain tolerance"--if it's "doesn't notice it" or "is able to ignore it".

If it's "doesn't notice": Physically, 5. Emotionally, 8. (But later books see "emotionally" drop wayyyy down to 3)

"Is able to ignore": Physically, 10. Emotionally? 9.

Physically? 6. Emotionally? 2.

Depends on a lot of factors. He's able to magically shut off his ability to feel physical pain, for one (though he only realizes/learns to do so on command to later in the series)! Otherwise, he's similar to Gene in having a variable "feels it" vs "is able to ignore it anyways" level of "tolerance".

If it's "doesn't notice": Physically, 6. Emotionally, 7.

If it's "is able to ignore it/doesn't show any signs of feeling it": Physically, 8. Emotionally, 9 or 10 depending on the emotion and situation.

Another case of "can ignore what he can feel".

Threshold until he feels it? Physically, 7. Emotionally? 8.

Threshold until he can't ignore it anymore? Physically, 10 (aka, only the worst pains imaginable). Emotionally? 10. (Aka mental breakdown territory.)

(Kieva is very bad at noticing his own emotions until he gets overwhelmed by them. His stress builds to very high levels before he actually notices them and can account for them. He's alexithymic and has to use therapeutic methods to figure out what he's feeling before he gets overwhelmed and snaps.)

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? (I'm also including freeze and fawn)

Fight!!! She's an incredibly angry person (that thinks she doesn't have anger issues, lmao), and goes on the aggressive very easily. However, it's usually verbal. She doesn't have any experience in actual fights.

Technically freeze, technically flight, but actually fight. They'll either turn into or hide in their own shadow with their magic to orient themselves to the situation before acting if surprised with combat. Their "freezing/flight" is only a defensive measure to gather more information before proceeding.

However, they're also a fantastic actor and tend to be playing a persona. While their reflex is defensive/fight, they can and will fake having a different "reflex" under pressure.

It depends on when/where in the books and in his life, haha.

Early books? Freeze or fawn depending on the situation. If it's something dangerous or more than one person, freeze. If it's a single person, fawn.

In the middle of the series? Fawn 7 times out of 10. Fight the other three.

Late in the series? Fight.

FIGHTTTTTTTTTTT!!! (both verbally and physically, though he tends to more adapt a threatening posture or imply he's ready to get violent rather than immediately getting violent. Not that he hates violence, though--he just doesn't like getting hurt.)

Before the beginning of Rising From the Ashes, his reactions are tied between flight and fawn, depending on the situation. He's used to running away from his problems to the point that Caron--the head of the knight's college--silently notices it and pegs him as a flight risk. However, he also very commonly fawns over people who would otherwise be his enemies.

As the story progresses, Sammy's reaction shifts to tied between fight and fawn. He'll still pretend to be on his enemies' side, but is a lot more prepared to fight instead of run away.

Defensive fight/freeze. He'll jump into action to defend himself and/or others, but he's not the aggressive type except for when he's angry (and oh, boy, when he's angry...)

While he's usually defensive, he'll switch to hyper-offense (minus potentially protecting others in danger) when he's decided on a course of action. He will single-mindedly work toward his goal, his own well-being be damned.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

I mean, technically the closest thing she had to a family was a magical zombie version of her dad...

More seriously, though--technically a small family. It was just her and her dad for her growing up. He was next to never around, though.

Tiny family. It was just them, their dad, and {SPOILER}. Their dad was next to never around because of his work and not wanting to tie Crow into it. Looks like it happened anyway, ey? 😏😉

He doesn't remember his family besides the fact that "Abi" existed and was probably his brother. During his short time in the orphanage, there was a lot of them. Then it was just him and Tazin (who he saw like a brother). Then it was the khonitva. Then it was the yuertel. The closest thing he can really remember adjacent to "family" is Tazin.

He wishes he had positive experiences with "family". Instead, he had none and a toxic friend.

Oh, buddy, would he hate this question. He comes from a small family, but was kicked out (and then later refused to return when they were willing to take him back). Because of this, he grew up either living with gangs (the khonitva/yuertel) or with it just being him and Gene. He thinks he hates "family", but it's only because he desperately wishes his was better.

This answer is a spoiler, haha! However, he is not a family person.

The only family he can remember is his adoptive one: his adoptive dad, Caron, and brother, Varik. He cares more about them than he cares about himself. Conveniently, the feeling is mutual between the three of them. (It wouldn't even be a question. They'd all sacrifice themselves for each other in less than a heartbeat. Something tells me this family is just a lil fucked-up/self-sacrificing.)

What animal represents them best?

Gryphon!!! Either that, or a feral kitten, haha.

I know this might be hard to believe... but Crow is best represented by a crow. Otherwise, a falcon, haha.

Deer. Easily.

Salamander! For probably obvious reasons if you have the context, haha. A simple explanation for those without the context? He's a fire mage. (But there's a lot more to it than just that, so.)

A possum!!! No debate about it, haha, and I'm sure I don't have to explain why.

A bull and/or buffalo. For their individual associations with bravery, fierceness, stubbornness, sacrifice, and survival. Also, because they all have horns!

What is a smell that they dislike?

City stink. If you know, you know.

Blood. Except, they also love the smell. They're mixed up about how they should feel about that.

Mustiness. Also the smell of various things burning. Midway through the story, the smell of cigarette smoke.

Sweat and herbs. It's even worse that burning herbs just makes the smells stronger.

Blood and chemicals.

Any strong smell. Especially hates the smell of chemicals and smoke.

Have they broken any bones?

When she was very young, yes. She doesn't remember it, though. Except for in her nightmares.

Depends on if you mean theirs or other people's!

Yes! A lot, actually.

Yes, a few times.

Yes, while practicing parkour. Conveniently, he has healing magic. Besides that? No.

His own, or other peoples'?

Yes.

His own, or other peoples'? x3

Yes. x6 (Whoops. Traumatic action-fantasy am I right?)

How would a stranger likely describe them?

"Yeah, that woman with the messy red hair and anger issues?--HOW DO YOU KNOW ANOTHER ONE!?--okay, no, she was looked like she wanted to be anywhere else?--Seriously?--okay, fine, she was wearing a ring on a necklace?--YEAH, that one!"

"Remember that guy wearing that long cloak as though it hid their giant wings and tail?"

"You know that creepy guy who's always staring? Like, barely talks, just watches everyone all the time? He's got a cane and just acts weird in general?"

"That angry Jhandan kid?" (or, alternatively:) "That Jhandan guy, either looks ready to pick a fight at a moment's notice or does his absolute best to piss everyone else off with while 'joking' around? Yeah, the overly-touchy guy--that one."

It would depend on who/what/when/where/why/how he met the person, considering how much he's almost always playing up one act or another! Here's one possible way of over a thousand:

"I think he was a Cirranian kid? About ye tall, really timid--OH! His eyes were two different colors, one blue and the other dark brown! He had curly hair and had a dirty, oversized jacket on?"

"Yeah, Kieran Caron's son? No--that's the other one, I think. Kieva's the one who's super pale, like he's never even been outside, and looks dead inside half the time?--what do you mean Varik's like that, too??? Okay, fine, silvery hair and eyes? YEAH! That guy!"

Are they a night owl or an early bird?

Early bird, haha. She loves the smell of the morning dew and just never preferred the night. Not even as an angsty teen!

Night owl (almost literally). They dislike the day, haha.

Night owl who's often forced to wake up early, haha. He's a sad, sleepy birdie who has to function on way too little sleep half the time.

Night owl, but his sleep schedule ends up even worse as an adult. It goes from "night owl" into "whenever I damn want/am not doing something else".

Really depends, his sleep schedule's all over the place. Most often, he's an early bird. He likes being awake when others aren't regardless.

You have to sleep in order to be a night owl or early bird, and Kieva doesn't sleep.

Okay, that was only kinda a joke--he has a hard time sleeping due to nightmares that he can't really remember. Usually, he just naps whenever he's able to. Otherwise, technically an early bird. He always wakes up early to stay on top of classes and his personal projects.

What is a flavour they hate and a flavour they love?

Loves spicy food! Hates most vegetables (like a child), but eats them anyway--like an adult!

Uhhhhh... so they're lowkey a vampire half the time so... both cases? Blood! 😁

Gene hates, hates, HATES sweet food and it's absolutely hilarious! He has the absolute opposite of a sweet tooth! On the other hand, he loves meat and most kinds of savory foods. Meat was rare for him growing up, and he really appreciates being able to eat it whenever he wants as an adult.

Both loves and hates Jhandan (Fantasy!Indian) food. His Jhandan parent would cook it when he was young, and uh--yeah. Mixed feelings about that whole mess. Same thing applies to spicy food--the only "spicy" food he had was cooked by the same parent, and while he loves spicy food, it reminds him of them.

For things he just straight-up dislikes, Tazin also isn't a fan of sweet food in general, haha. There's a few he does like, but they're few and far between.

Love: food. Hate: nothing. Literally can't afford to be picky.

Later on, when he is able to be picky, he strongly dislikes spicy food and likes "spiced" (aka spices, not spicy) and savory foods. Anything super flavorful!... except for fish. Hates fish. (Yes, white fish have plainer flavors. He hates those, too.)

Loves basically anything his dad cooks, but prefers salty and umami tastes. Hates bitter stuff, but is basically obsessed with coffee (like the rest of his family tbf).

Do they have any hobbies?

Yes! She loves reading and has a hobby of translating books from a foreign-to-that-world language into her own! She does so utilizing books in the library and has lowkey become a language scholar, haha. (She'll just never admit it.)

They secretly like drawing and creating collages out of things cut out of newspapers and magazines. They have not admitted this fact to a single person in their life, and won't for a long time.

Two! Reading non-fiction books (aka just learning in general, haha) and drawing! He loves drawing, though does it a lot less than reading. Drawing hasn't really helped him (besides with the maps he used to draw for the yuertel), while his obsessive need to always be learning has.

Not really? He likes reading stories, primarily folklore, stories about the gods, and fiction, but he doesn't allow himself to do it often because he's embarrassed to like them. Similarly, he likes to sing, but next to never does so because he's insecure about it.

I like to say that, if Tazin grew up in our world, he would've absolutely been a huge fan of rock and tried starting a band in high school. (He would've put enough time into it that he'd even be good at the guitar. Except... he's not in our world.)

No, he never had the time, money, or mental energy for hobbies. The closest thing he has to one is "people-watching", but he did it more out of necessity than because he enjoyed it.

If he could have one, I think he'd most enjoy creating textiles and listening to music.

Yes! Drawing, easily. Prefers life-drawing and drawing people in general. Sometimes enjoys people-watching, but only if he can tolerate their personalities (or otherwise, if they aren't speaking). Even before he started attending the knight's college, he had a minor hobby of invading active classes to watch the lessons, teachers, and students. It made it much easier for him to pick up fighting when he officially started, and it's helped him have a heightened magical awareness.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises?

Apprehension and shock. She wouldn't have told anyone her birthday and wouldn't have expected anyone to celebrate it on top of that. She'd be half-expecting things to go wrong and not know how to deal with it all, but would probably ultimately enjoy it.

Cry. They didn't expect anyone to know/care besides their dad. Their dad celebrates with them, but it's always been disappointing (not that they'd admit that though). They'd absolutely love it, though. Just... cry. A lot.

Panic. Hates surprises, hates social gatherings, hates having people expect things from him (ie: appreciate the party/their efforts), and hates that he'll be "the bad guy" for not appreciating the party.

Besides, he doesn't have a "real" birthday (he didn't know the day and was given a "fake" one to be celebrated during his time in the orphanage) and even though he and Tazin privately celebrated the day they met in its place, it was just that--privately. They would have a quiet celebration with food, a few gifts exchanged between them, and just acting normal otherwise.

Rage. Wouldn't have shared his birthday with anyone, not even Gene (though Gene would've figured it out anyway because of Reasons). Similarly, definitely not a fan of surprises. Likes receiving gifts, but otherwise? Fuck off (his words, not mine--).

(Assuming friends threw it for him--) Confusion and would break down crying. Hasn't really had a birthday party for a long time, doesn't know how to react to it, and certainly didn't tell anyone when his birthday was because he doesn't even know. (So, y'know, whoever threw the party would've had to make one up for him.) Wouldn't know how to take people celebrating his existence--or him in general--and would be overwhelmed by the positive attention directed toward him.

So, yeah. Would cry a LOT. And only might hide it.

Doesn't like surprises, wouldn't show it. Would just--

Considering his adoption and the way it initially happened--let's just say it wasn't traditional in any sort of way--his actual birthday is unknown. Instead the family celebrates the day of his official adoption. Regardless, those celebrations are obviously known of in advance. Kieva would not accept a party being thrust upon him, haha.

Do they like to wear jewelry?

She grew up always wearing a magical amulet her dad gave her that helped her with an unknown illness. When she loses it early into the book, she puts an otherwise-enchanted ring on a necklace to cope with the loss of the feeling of wearing something at her neck. Besides that, she's not a jewelry person, haha.

They don't like jewelry, but wear it. They have two earrings that absorb the magic of their curse--allowing them to appear human and removing its antimagic effects--and quite often wear various other kinds of jewelry while posing as one identity or another.

No, absolutely not. He'd hate the sensory input. He's just fine with no jewelry, having his hair tied back, and fidgeting with his cane--thank you very much.

As a kid, wouldn't have. As an adult, likes basic "jewelry" that's just metal rather than stuff with actual jewels.

Not at all. However, keeps a half-destroyed photo locket in his pocket at all times. But that's different, y'know?

Alternates between loving and hating jewelry. Sometimes enjoys wearing it for something to fidget with. Other times, hates the sensation and will take it off (potentially aggressively if he realized after already getting overwhelmed). Rarely wears it because of the "risk" associated with it.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Neat! She's filled out a lot of paperwork in her time and has actually dabbled in sketching stuff, but isn't the greatest artist.

Halfway between! Very messy handwriting, but it's always legible.

Depends on how fast he's writing and if he intends on having anyone else read it. It's incredibly messy to the point of illegibility if he's writing quickly, and especially more so if it's just for himself. However, he's capable of writing very neatly if he's planning on having others read it--it just takes him a lot longer to write.

Messy, messy, messy! Doesn't write often, haha. But is capable of making it neater if he must.

(Also, would probably go out of his way to make his handwriting messier if someone forced him to write stuff down for them--)

Even worse than Tazin's. Messy af, everything is horribly misspelled. He's dyslexic and barely learned how to read even beyond that. Hates even attempting to read, much less write, so his time in the knight's college is the first time he really gets into it since he was really young.

Either incredibly neat or messy. Sometimes doesn't have the patience to bother making things legible, but needs to write stuff down--and so scribbles doctor handwriting style. Otherwise, goes out of his way to make his handwriting neater. It's an ego thing.

What are the two emotions they feel the most?

Frustration and exhaustion. She doesn't sleep well--though she doesn't remember her dreams anymore--and has anger issues.

Annoyance and amusement. They don't

Exhaustion and sadness. He doesn't get the greatest sleep--whether it's because of nightmares or a terrible sleep schedule--and he's constantly experiencing and/or witnessing things that are unfair. It's not like he's never happy, though--he just constantly carries that sense of tragedy.

Anger and amusement. He has SEVERE anger issues, but considers himself a jokester. Unfortunately, a lot of his "humor" is at the detriment of others, especially as he gets older.

Resignation and caution. Is constantly on-guard for people who could potentially pose a threat to him--regardless of how--and is used to people treating him poorly. His feeding into it by pretending to be young and clueless has always been a way to cope with it and run with its few advantages.

Who knows what he's running from? Me. Obviously I know. But-- But he's constantly prepared to run away from a situation where he's in danger... or people are close to figuring out things he doesn't want them to.

Stubbornness and indifference, with exhaustion being a close third. Mostly floats through life, following a strict schedule with the school's classes. Finds the strict schedule convenient, because it allows him to plan things ahead of time and then stop having to think as he follows through with what he decided. However, is still an incredibly stubborn person--he wants to make his dad proud by becoming a powerful mage, fighter, and knight. That, and he genuinely wants to make the world a better place! And maybe, one day, to find out where he's actually from.

Only problem is, he just wants to sleep half the time!

Do they have a favourite fabric? (This is assuming I know the fabrics...)

Does yarn count? Knitted stuff of all kinds and textures! She's made a lot of her own clothes. She's very self-sufficient.

Anything their feathers don't get caught on. So, mostly smoother textures.

Anything and everything soft. He loves soft things and stimming with them.

Slippery stuff. Aka, stuff that's harder for people to grip. Tazin explicitly wears skintight clothing and has Gene cut his hair down to his scalp so people can't easily grab him. Besides that, doesn't care.

Anything soft. Has a particular fondness for the texture of "was formerly rough due to being made from poor-quality materials, but has softened from age and use" stuff. Granted, that's also the texture of his hole-y jacket.

He's indifferent. As long as it's not itchy!

What kind of accent do they have?

Irish! She's from a fantasy country with lots of early Norse and Celtic influence.

Belgian! They were born and raised in Lynsmouth, which has a lot of misc influences from Western Europe, but it's primarily Netherlands and France!

Polish. Who knows where he was from before ending up in Glavnran (Fantasy!Slavic), but after spending most of his life there, his accent has changed and adjusted to sound much more Glavni than whatever it was before.

Kyrgyz. He's mixed, Glavni and Jhandan (Fantasy!Indian), and was raised primarily by his Jhandan parent before ending up on the streets. Fittingly, his accent is from a country between Russia and India, haha.

Spanish. Not Mexican, Spanish. Like from Spain. Who knows where his family is from, but he looks Cirranian (Fantasy!CentralAmerica) and has spent as much of his life as he can remember in Kihroin (the country RFtA takes place in).

Algerian. Like Sammy, he's grown up in Kihroin, which has North African inspiration! (Which is another reason I want to wait to publish anything on it, I want to do an insane amount of more research first, haha.)

(I literally pulled up a video with people speaking English with various accents just to answer this question. Somehow, my imagined languages for them aligned really well with the regions/accents they should have!? I say "somehow", as though I haven't actually done an immense amount of research on languages and listened to them in order to say my made-up words "correctly", haha...)

Me, before starting this: "this should be relatively easy!"

Me, getting to the accent question: "wait, actually, what would Crow sound like? And omg, Sammy? Considering their backgrounds--"

Me: *spends half an hour debating the accents of each of the characters*

Me, a day after starting this and coming back to see ^^^^ that: "goddamn, I thought this would be easy?"

PSA: doing this for one character is fine. Doing it for six--two of which you're not as certain with--is less fine!

Tagging (gently!): @honeybewrites @yourpenpaldee @paeliae-occasionally @mysticstarlightduck @illarian-rambling

@darkandstormydolls @the-golden-comet @ath3alin @wyked-ao3 @mk-writes-stuff

@huewrite + open tags!

Divider from @saradika!

[ominous-feychild]

Trading you for lore asks, why is the west seen as a holy direction to the Illarian religion?

Because the gods have an island retreat (blocked by a mass of storms and/or tucked into a magical separate dimension) off to the West! That association naturally makes them see the West as holy!

(so sorry for the late response btw!!! I've been exhausted and busy lately 😅😭)

[the-golden-comet]

😈 Villain Crimes Tag 😈

Thank you for tagging me for this game, @mysticstarlightduck ! ✨

Rules: List all the real-world crimes your villains are guilty of committing!

A loooooot of my villains in my books are VERY spoiler-y, but I will give a taste of one from Peter Hart:

Baron Alastair of Port Mayor 🇬🇧

But wait Goldie, I hear you asking: isn’t he a part of parliament? What crimes is he committing so closely in the Royal Courts? Oh boy, let me tell you:

1. Treason to the crown. He goes behind Duke Matthias’s back to work with all sorts of pirates and criminals.

2. Forgery of an official in higher status. Lots of documents that never made it to his boss’s desk. Hmmm 🤔

3. Murder. Lots of murder. Oh my gods so much murder. Pirates and naval officers are not safe from his crack shot rifle aim.

4. Theft. Steals and rotates documents around like passing a blunt at a party.

5. Impersonation of higher officials in parliament.

6. Illegal trade. This was VERY common in the courts, and one of the incentives for parliament to work with pirates.

7. Misappropriation of Government Funds for his own personal gain.

In other words, man is a politician 😂✨

Gently tagging (no pressure): @drchenquill , @wyked-ao3 , @gioiaalbanoart , @tragedycoded , @saturnine-saturneight , @marlowethelibrarian , @tildeathiwillwrite , @mauannacreates , @alinacapellabooks , @tragedycoded , @sableglass , @words-after-midnight , @coffeexafterxmidnight , @autism-purgatory , @jev-urisk , @kaylinalexanderbooks , @theink-stainedfolk , @honeybewrites , @oliolioxenfreewrites , @nczaversnick , @somethingclevermahogony , @houseplantblank , @willtheweaver , @aintgonnatakethis , @theaistired , @noxxytocin , @astramachina , @paeliae-occasionally , @yourpenpaldee , @authorcoledipalo , @48lexr , @thecomfywriter , @rivenantiqnerd , @eccaiia , @rhikasa , @worlds-tallest-fairy , @ominous-feychild , @smellyrottentrees , @lavender-gloom , @leahnardo-da-veggie , @illarian-rambling , @corinneglass , @fantasy-things-and-such , @finickyfelix , @deanwax , +open tag ✨

[the-letterbox-archives]

archival file 350180-126[1] (tag game)

i am beginning to work through these oc questionnaires, so consider this part 1! thank you @fenmere and @ominous-feychild for the questions for round 1!

i will be using laszlo, ven, and dulcinea for the first 6 questions!

q1. “what is your favourite thing to do to avoid responsibility?”

laszlo

“As much as I love the extra responsibility, I sometimes find it best to engage whoever wants me to undertake extra work with an interesting conversation. It works especially well on Father. As much as he claims to hate politics, it gets him talking!”

ven

“Sleep. That’s… pretty much all I’ve ever done, and nobody bothered me with ‘responsibility’ then.”

dulcinea

“Leave. Well, can you blame me? Sometimes I need to reset. And the stars are really pretty, I can’t be away from them for too long, anyway.”

q2. “if you could choose anyone in your world to be your sibling, who would it be?”

laszlo

“Andrei! He’s my first and only friend, I would be honoured to be his brother.”

ven

“So far, the people I’ve met don’t really seem like ‘sibling’ material, to say the least.”

dulcinea

“What’s a sibling? Doesn’t matter, the only person I know is mum, so...”

q3. “what is the most sublime thing you have ever eaten, and why?”

laszlo

“Well, everything I eat is of the highest quality in Miyokav, but I quite like gryphon meat! Though, I don’t think I’ll ever be drinking wine again, heh…”

ven

“I don’t think I need to eat… Maybe I should check that…”

dulcinea

“We eat the same thing every day, but I like it. Non-perishable slop really has an acquired taste, but I’ve had eighteen years to develop that taste.”

q4. “what was the worst day of your life?”

laszlo

“You’d expect me to say the day I was almost assassinated, but no! No, there was another experience, as long ago as it was. In fact, the more I think about it, the less I remember… On second thought, can we skip this question? I’m a bit lightheaded…”

ven

“The day I woke up. That’s not to say it was a particularly bad day, it was just the first day I’ve ever felt anything other than nothing.”

dulcinea

“Every day feels the same to me, honestly. I can’t really keep track of time anymore. I remember tiny fragments of Earth, but not enough to be a real memory. I think my worst day would be leaving Earth.”

q5. “what’s your worst nightmare?”

laszlo

“Losing everything I’ve ever held dear because of the Promise. I fear the worst every year, but I can feel everyone’s hope fade further as the tithes increase.”

ven

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a nightmare… Oh, it’s metaphorical? Okay, uh, maybe not knowing who I am. Is that a worst nightmare if it’s already happening?”

dulcinea

“Losing mum. I know it has to happen someday, but I just… don’t wanna think about it.”

q6. “if a monster asked you your worst nightmare, what would you tell it and why?”

laszlo

“Foolish to assume my people don’t worship monsters already. If a god asked me my worst nightmare, I would lie. What lie, I’m not certain, but I would never let them know they hold any power over me.”

ven

“It couldn’t really use the information against me, and I don’t have the wit to lie…”

dulcinea

“I’d say something like ‘seeing you alive,’ then I’d punch it in the face. Bad lie, I know, but it’s the punchline that counts.”

np tagging @introchasingstars, @honeybewrites, @paeliae-occasionally, @the-golden-comet,

@noxxytocin, @moltenwrites, @tc-doherty, @the-ellia-west, @theverumproject,

@thecrazyalchemist, @laylathewordwitch, @dragonedged-if, @leitereads, @autism-purgatory,

@gioiaalbanoart, @drchenquill, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @melpomene-grey,

@yourpenpaldee, @corinneglass, @agirlandherquill, @willtheweaver, @nczaversnick,

@davycoquette, @glassfrogforest, @princeofhags, @wyked-ao3, @fantasy-things-and-such, + open tag!

[the-letterbox-archives]

file (1)1234-20-009: wip name qna

thanks for the tag @ominous-feychild ! this is a wip name tag game, so i'll share my current wips, then leave my asks open for fun facts / loredumps / allusion to future plans / etc.

here they are:

Tales From A Dying Heart

The Rockdove Promise

insincere.

On Kingston Alley

tagging @agirlandherquill, @paeliae-occasionally, @honeybewrites, @the-ellia-west, @noxxytocin

@everythingismadeofchaos, @mundanemoongirl, @glassfrogforest, @thecrazyalchemist, @the-golden-comet,

and @introchasingstars, + open tag!

[ominous-feychild]

@the-letterbox-archives @48lexr @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet @illarian-rambling

@ashirisu @urnumber1star @mysticstarlightduck @aalinaaaaaa @paeliae-occasionally

✦ Q&A WIP/OC Tag ✦

I've been pushing off doing this for a while, but omfg have I gotten a lot of tags from you guys!!! Has this been y'all's way of saying you want to ask questions??? 🤣😭

Thanks for the tags, @honeybewrites (here), @fantasy-things-and-such (here), @the-letterbox-archives (here), and I'm sorry if I've missed anyone else? 😭

Note: as I want to avoid spoilers, I may elect to not answer some questions! I apologize in advance, but I also want to allow you guys to be able to pick and choose from a larger variety of characters and topics! (In good part because it might help me work on things I haven't yet, but you didn't hear that from me. 👀)

If it makes you feel better, I can also tell you guys which questions I'm going to choose not to answer for spoiler reasons? Maybe tell me in the comments if you think that's something I should do? Idk, haha. 😅

Characters

Sun and Shadow

Freya Ula Crow the Cursed Daleira Fenastra Valyarus Fenastra Ponderosa Marlon Pesce Soren Ula Grimnir (the criminal detective) Faer

The Arcane Rifts

overview Gene (the amnesiac) Tazin (the theater kid) (pending; releases in 5 hours of reblog) Mislav (the berserker) Oska (the literal gang leader) Rieka (the badass/khonitva's healer) Adilzhan (the priest) Ludmila (the leader) Nikolai (the police captain)

last but not least, feel free to ask about Rising From the Ashes, but be warned I'll probably address them after any/all questions about the others first!!! RFtA is a project I won't be writing for a long time, but I've shared plenty about it and I'm sure people have questions!

Rising From the Ashes

Carmin Leveque Nora Beck Sammy Bardales Kieva Caron Kieran Caron Varik Caron Elazi (crown prince of Kihroin) Riaan (king of Kihroin) Roman Leveque (protector)

PLEASE LIMIT ASKS TO ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME! It's okay if you send a few different asks, I'll just be overwhelmed if there's too many questions in one! <3

Other Stuff

THE ALL-MIGHTY AND POWERFUL GODS

The Glavni Gods Zhrizn Rholvny Ertzat Bhayol Zhelevol / Spasin

The Existentials (they aren't all gay, I'm just doing multiple colors for... reasons) Fate Chaos Order (also Life) Magic Death (also... something Else?)

Axiom Freya's Nine

Magic Stuff

General Overview Magical "Sources" Existential magic Axiomatic magic Innate magic Granted magic "Fae-touched" Runic magic / Wizards Conduits Curses Faespots The Faewildes

Feel free to ask questions about worldbuilding, other characters, or anything else you've noticed that I didn't include here! In the case of characters I haven't mentioned, though, it's very possible they're spoiler-ridden or just not very important, haha.

PLEASE LIMIT ASKS TO ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME! It's okay if you send a few different asks, I'll just be overwhelmed if there's too many questions in one! <3

Tagging (with no pressure!): @the-golden-comet @darkandstormydolls @themboty and I want to hold off on tagging more just in case people have already received one! Open tags though! <3

Divider from @cafekitsune