#WordWeavers 2405.12 — Who is the best friend in your story?
The MC is incapable of seeing that it is her.
For most of her story arc, she's suspicious of making friends having been a prizefighter and then working in the mob. She's also somewhat autistic, but trained to deal with people. The problem is that when she's amongst people, working with them, even the baddies, she's the type that gets the job done, teaches those that need teaching how to get the job done, and will always protect her teammates and subordinates, taking responsibility. You don't get in her face, however; certainly only once, anyway. Strangely or not so strangely, those in her orbit see her as a leader and personable. (All she wants is to go home to be alone with her books, but she'd never complain.) She goes along with it when others are friendly with her, not really knowing how to say no and understanding this was what she was trained to do.
To say she's well liked is an understatement. Not many people support you as she does, or will straighten you out and make you fly right when things are bad for you. She saves one marriage by punching the husband in the nose. She's there for others. She'll enjoy a meal with you if that's what you need and listen to you vent. At least one guy has a crush on her. Others fight for her. Some will risk their life for her...
#WordWeavers Who is the best friend in your story?
It's so nice when I can answer these questions easily: Amy is the best friend. Sarcastic, lovely to Imogene but not letting anything slide. Her expression deadpan except for her red-lipsticked mouth, which squirmed like an earthworm on a fishhook. That's Amy.
#wordweavers#Writing 13. Describe a place that has a special significance in your story.
Muko - The Shadowland is a space existing all around us, though few can see it. It is where supernatural beings exist, some ancient and others sparked by recent legends and stories. It is also where souls that can't pass over become stuck. Descriptions of it vary depending on the observer and how deeply they penetrate it. This is not a place meant for living humans.
The uninformed view it as hostile but that is a misunderstanding. It is alien and its and its inhabitants' desires are different than our own Sometimes they harm humans in the mundane world and sometimes bring benefit.
#wordweavers 12MAY2024: It is Luna, ever the vigilant guardian, unwaveringly shadows Lyria, who, in turn, chafes under such devoted scrutiny. Yet, it is in Luna’s presence that Lyria’s spirit soars into realms of untamed adventure.
Alas, a grim future looms for this entwined pair, a shadow that darkens their doorsteps, and I am left to ponder the cruel hand of fate. Shall Luna’s demise come prematurely, a harrowing harbinger of the misfortunes that awaits these souls? Or shall it tarry, allowing the anguish to ferment, deepening the sting of the ultimate demise? A dreadful decision lies before me, one that shall shape the contours of their tale in the most poignant of ways.
#wordweavers May 12. Who is the best friend in your story?
Although it does not start out this way, Max will become Katja's best friend. They go through so much together, and they always have each other's back (although Max doesn't know that Katja has his until much later...)
It's complicated with a cast that includes ace alloromantic characters. But I suppose it's Kaori and Kan-chan, Shiro's partners. They are very good friends, Kan-chan sometimes calls Kaori sis.
#wordweavers 24-05-12. Who is the best friend in your story?
Kairii.
Her and Parthia grew up together and were occasionally lovers over the years.
They have a granite solid love for each other but never that certain ember that blossoms into the fire of passion and heat of romance.
#wordweavers May 11. Who is the best leader in your story?
Hmmm, difficult. Maybe it's Friedrich of Swabia, the future Emperor Barbarossa. Yusuf bin Ayyub, the future Saladin, is still a little boy.
Max and Katja both only take over leadership when there's no one they can rely on. It's the way they were raised.
#wordweavers May 10 - Antagonist POV: What do you like the most about yourself?
Who is the antagonist? As in many of my stories, these roles are fluent.
But let's take Rainald:
"People claim that I'm the most handsome man in Jerusalem. My family is well off. But none of this is as important as that I am kind and honest - which can't be said of everyone." meaningful glance at Max
(Of course, he lies about a certain aspect of himself, but that is understandable...)
#WordWeavers 2405.10 — Antagonist POV: What do you like the most about yourself?
[A short tootfic. Likely canon. Her Highness speaking. From /Inklings:/]
My jaw almost dropped at the shear gall of the question, but the Midlands plenipotentiary was, if anything, expert at being jovial. His smile was disarming. He was a diplomat. I didn't gape, but put the tea cup down carefully.
"You're referring to the dragon incident, aren't you?"
He nodded. He plunked a couple lumps of brown sugar in his tea, stirring. It accounted for his corpulence, something rare amongst his gaunt brethren who spent much of their day running on forest paths. He'd made it from the Midlands in just weeks, on horseback I guessed. Poor horse. "It's on everyone's tongue. You'd mobilized the militia. Detailed reports hit the Forest Ridge High Tower as if carried by a thunderstorm."
He was making sure I knew "people" kept him well informed, and that my military wasn't what interested him. Much, anyway. I sighed, crossing my legs as I sat back.
I'd mobilized the best and most radiant of my magic users. None could best me, but we expected to face a wyvern the size of my in-town mansion. It had burnt up part of the Fell Woods. A good thing, thinking about that unassailable haven for monsters and wild beasts. Then it attacked a farm.
"The attack on the farm was an accident," I said off-handedly, steepling my fingers.
He paused. Blue eyes speared me. I'd never announced the details of what happened because if I made them official rather than rumor, the public might panic. Nobody died.
The Midlands ought know, I decided then and there. It'd be to my advantage. I'd let him decide the implications. "The grain silo had a moisture problem. It had started to ferment. Who would have thought a dragon might like beer?"
He chuckled, then, "You're serious? You know this? /How?"/ He put down his tea cup with a loud clink, spilling some of the reddish liquor.
I'd rode in with an elite company of my army, through a wood arch that proclaimed "Cornfeld," into a farm yard. I'd been ready to use my radiance to repel fire; dragons of all shapes breathed fire. My troops had the best spears, but it had been centuries since anyone had needed weapons against dragon scale. Would newiron even work? Drowning the beast by swirling airborne the farm's pond was almost our best offense, if the magical beast decided to fight. I knew they disliked fighting. I hoped that I had that much correct. If I had to resort to radiant kinesis to heave rock from a stone fence, it might decide to retaliate against my Townships—if I failed.
What I found was a half-naked girl, barely a woman though very tall, mollifying a distraught farmer and mediating with a red dragon who looked to be hanging on her every word. I could tell this, even though the dragon had the form of a giant bat.
Apparently, with her mediation, both parties were apologizing to each other!
Worse, though covered with mud and ash, visibly scarred, the young woman was devastatingly beautiful. The type of beautiful that made a seasoned and well worn woman like me think of a different kind of bedmate. I wasn't a man...
Wintereyes was her name. She had befriended a dragon.
Innocent and kind.
And immeasurably dangerous.
The ingénue now attended my magic university, despite being uncomfortable around people and wearing clothing. Learning to be human. One of mine.
I said, "What I like about myself is that I know when to fight and when to make friends."
#WordWeavers 5/9 - Does your MC agree with #7&8? [Encouraged/discouraged behaviors in society.]
Gavin Rownt is a practicing Catholic and would agree with most of what the Church teaches, although he does not always abide by it (especially as regards sexual behavior). And he pushes the boundaries in terms of social class again and again.
#wordweavers May 09 Does your MC agree with 7&8? (meaning the encouraged and discouraged behavior of society).
Yes. Katja is a normal girl of her time, no rebel. She's thrown into circumstances that make her question certain things, and she does develop a quite liberal view after a while - but on the whole, she’s fine with the rules.
If push came to shove, she might challenge them more because of her empathic nature.
#WordWeavers 2405.06 — Who is your most fun character?
Wintereyes.
She's a free spirit unlike any of my previous characters, but she's always kind. Despite being shy, she's incredibly courageous but doesn't understand how impressive that is. Having lived amongst wolves (she's human), she doesn't understand what it means to live amongst people, but is learning. She's sticking to her "friendly" principles when challenged with unerring innocence, integrity, and passion. It does make her more-than-occasionally NSFW, however...
#wordweavers 9. Does your MC agree with any of the last two days?
At the time of the WIPs Franz-Karl is still a little kid, and he's stuck at the intersection of the various societies that are in conflict. Worldfolk kids are not supposed to need to answer those kinds of questions until Initiation at 15 or so. So it's probably a good thing that his eldritch side matures differently.
It is safe to say that he does not (and will not) entirely agree with any of the societies tugging at him.
Shiro, and Saeyaki do at the beginning. They have mellowed some by the end but those values are the ones they grew up with and they are part of their social DNA.
#wordweavers#writing 8. What behaviors does your characters' society discourage?
Making problems for others. Standing out.
I have a bit of trouble with these generalized questions about socioty. Since my stories are set with the back drop of a real socioty, the questions feel very reductive.
#wordweavers 01/05/2024 Introduce your setting as if it's a character in your story.
The McAlistair mansion POV: “I’m currently the host of Esther and her strange little maid. Before I belonged to Esther’s husband, but he wasn’t with them when they came back from the colonies. Something has happened there, I don’t know what, but it makes Esther ill. The little strange maid tries her best to help.”
#wordweavers 08/05/2024 What behaviors does your characters' society discourage?
For a woman : being a free and independent, someone who stands for herself instead of staying in the shadows of her man, someone proud of herself, someone sexually very active (and not shy about it), well, everything Lady d’Arcy is.
#wordweavers 09/05/2024 Does your MC agree with 7&8?
At the beginning of the story, Esther was fully complying to 7 and she was very upset by Lady d’Arcy. But what happened in the undergrounds of the Chamberlain’s Seminary will open her new perspectives… but is it possible to take Lady d’Arcy’s freedom of without embracing all the bad sides? That’s one of the main questions of the story
#wordweavers 11/05/2024 Who is the best leader in your story?
Lady d’Arcy: best as «the most effective», because morally…: In her relationship with Sir James, she’s the leader, and she used his influence to create a sect of worshippers who participate in black masses and orgies.
After the exile, she creates the Seminary, and for this, she needs to train Erie and a few other leonines as maiden.
#wordweavers 12/05/2024 Who is the best friend in your story?
Lady d’Arc… err no, not this time 😅 The best friend is probably Erié, although her official position is to be the maid. During the story, she will become closer and closer to Esther and ultimately, she will be far more than a friend.