Late Writeblr Intro!

Late Writeblr Intro!

Hello, friends!

I figured it was about time I made an actual blog intro of my own since I forgot to make one when I started this blog last year. Better late than never, lmao!

Pls, reblog, like, and/or reply to help boost the blog! 💕

Let's get started:

Personal Stuff! 💜🩶🖤

My name is Anna/Anya but you can call me Mystic, Ducky, or just Anya on this blog! My personal nickname is Ani and I adore it (:

I am an Asexual woman (my pronouns are she/her!) and I'm also personally an atheist who puts my faith in the spirits of Mother Nature, though I respect all other religions equally!

I'm Gen Z and Latina (Brazilian). I was raised bilingual (Brazilian Portuguese + English) and I love learning languages - currently, I'm working on learning French and Spanish! Career-wise I am studying in college to become a character designer and hopefully animator, as I want to pursue a career as an artist and writer! I also wish to have my WIPs published in the near future (:

Some fun facts about me!

My favorite shows are Critical Role, Game of Thrones, Castlevania, The Legend of Vox Machina (animated series), Star Wars, Voltron, The Dragon Prince, Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, and DC Comics content, as well as many more lmao. I love watching movies and series!

My favorite Vox Machina characters are Vax'ildan and Percy (:

I am a younger sister 💖

My hair is short and curly (pixie style, similar to the haircut Rapunzel has at the end of the Tangled movie!)

I adore listening to music, especially songs that can inspire me to write my WIPs! Playlists are a huge part of my writing process and something I really enjoy making.

I'm currently rereading Shadow and Bone (+ Six of Crows) and I am always looking for more good dark fantasy/historical fantasy books to read so book recs are always welcome! I also am a huge fan of the Percy Jackson series and Trials of Apollo (by Rick Riordan), though I'm usually more of a gritty/dark fantasy fan (like Game of Thrones)!

I have three dogs and two cats!😺🐶

I know how to play the piano, though I haven't done that in a while because things have been chaotic for me, but I'd like to start playing regularly again in my winter vacation.

I have worn glasses since I was 5 years old and have terrible eyesight without them (and some days with them, lol, so bear with me).

My friends and I are doing a DnD campaign every Sunday, where I play as a half-elf rogue named Aeryn (he/him). I'm adoring this adventure so far, it's so fun!!!

I love to bake and am rather good at it, but am a painfully average cook lmao (some specific recipes I make are actually rlly good, but it depends a lot on my mood and the 'alignment of the stars' lol)

I want to learn how to knit/crochet! 🧶

I'm a theater nerd and love musicals (:

About my Writing!🏹⌛

I write fictional works mostly in the genre of fantasy (high fantasy/epic fantasy/dark fantasy/historical fantasy/urban fantasy, etc. You name it!) and science fiction (space opera/cyberpunk/superhero, etc).

My works usually revolve around themes such as epic quests, secrets, adventure, rebels fighting an oppressive system, sibling bonds, acceptance/respect, outcasts, and much, much more! I love fluff and whump equally, and though my stories tend to focus on serious topics (or at least darker/heavier themes) within a fantasy/sci-fi setting, I like to have a good bit of humor, lighthearted fun, and comedy to my stories to lighten up the mood!

My main WIPs:

Song of Thorns

🌹WIP Intro: (here)🌹

Genre: dark fantasy, medieval fantasy, adventure/mystery, dark fairytale, eldritch horror (mild)

Style: Standalone (possible Trilogy)

Tags: #wip song of thorns #song of thorns

Short Summary/About: "A peasant girl moves with her siblings from her struggling seaside village to the kingdom's glittering floating capital, but after her older brother is kidnapped, she ends up discovering the dark, bloody secrets hiding behind the long-lasting royal family of the town and must team up with a young dhampir thief, the exiled prince, and a lonely druid girl to save the dying kingdom from this web of lies".

Supernova Initiative

🎇WIP Intro: (here) 🎇

Genre: space opera, adventure, exploration, laboratory whump, heist, thriller/mystery

Style: Episodic book series with an overarching plot (each chapter/group of chapters equivalent to an episode in a TV series)

Tags: #wip supernova initiative #supernova initiative

Short Summary/About: "A young intergalactic thief and his crew are captured after a heist gone wrong and forced to accept a strange deal - complete a mission for the Junction, retrieve important missing files, and get their freedom back. All the while that is happening, Jack Tithus, the protagonist, finds himself trapped as a test subject to an immoral, and elusive, man known as the Director."

Enchanted Illusions

💀 WIP Intro: (here)💀

Genre: Victorian fantasy, adventure, mystery, gothic fantasy, dark fantasy, crime-solving

Style: Possibly a trilogy

Tags: #wip enchanted illusions, #enchanted illusions

Short Summary/About: "On a magical setting inspired by Victorian times, a group of strangers and outcasts must work together to thwart a powerful secret organization and stop a murder spree that could lead to another civil war between myths and humans."

Of Starlight and Beasts

✨⚔️WIP Intro: (here)⚔️✨

Genre: medieval fantasy, epic fantasy, adventure/quest, dark fairytale, sword and sorcery, prophecies

Style: Book Series

Tags: #wip of starlight and beasts, #enchanted illusions

Short Summary/About: "A young knight in training and an amnesiac star mage embark on a quest to prevent an ancient prophecy from coming to fruition as a vengeful sorceress queen's army marches relentlessly onto their land with the intent to destroy all their kingdom has built."

The Last Wrath

🔥⚔️WIP Intro: to be made...⚔️🔥

Genre: dark fantasy, warfare, political intrigue, espionage, adventure/quest, medieval fantasy, whump

Style: Book Series (currently on hiatus)

Tags: #wip the last wrath, #the last wrath

Short Summary/About: "In a land torn by an ancient war between two sides of a continent, a mageborn girl finds herself trapped amid the bloodshed after her past comes back to haunt her and her family. Now, stopping the war may be the only chance she still has to survive."

Tales of Wilted Flowers

🥀WIP Intro: to be made...🪻

Genre: RPG-inspired fantasy, high fantasy, adventure, fairytale, epic quest, heist story, whump, light fantasy

Style: Trilogy (currently on hiatus)

Tags: #wip tales of wilted flowers #tales of wilted flowers

Short Summary/About - "A group of youths rejected and betrayed by society in many different ways come together due to unexpected circumstances and must rely on each other to prevent the kingdom's corrupt Head Sorcerer and the King from reviving an ancient evil."

Realms of Loss

🍂WIP Intro: (here)🍂

Genre: dark fantasy, warfare, medieval fantasy, high fantasy, ancient times fantasy, Viking-inspired, prophecies & curses

Style: Book Series (currently on hiatus)

Tags: #wip realms of loss #realms of loss

Short Summary/About - "In a continent destroyed by the fall of the Old Gods, and trapped in an endless toil for survival, a cocky young prince discovers his role in an ancient prophecy after his brother, the King, is murdered and assassins come for him too. Running away into the forsaken land beyond the walls of his kingdom, he'll have to learn to be a leader and save his people as a dead, murderous God awakens."

Mutant Inquiries/Open Secret Files

🤖 WIP Intro: to be made..🤖

Genre: superhero, cyberpunk, futuristic, dystopian, science fiction, urban fantasy

Style: Episodic Series, still in development

Tags: #wip mutant inquiries #wip open secret files #mutant inquiries #open secret files

Short Summary/About: "In a dystopian, high-tech future, a group of mutant teenagers become vigilantes and crime fighters to rebel against the oppressive government regime and survive their crime-ridden city."

I have a few other smaller-scale WIPs I occasionally, less frequently work on, such as Lies Untold and Jade Ruins, but those up above are the main ones that I wish to publish. I've also got a big, secret extra WIP I'm working on for fun and will share it with you guys soon!

I am SO INTRIGUED by the Supernova Initiative!!!! Is there any tag-list for this wip?? Or can I just ask about what inspired this idea?

--CakeintheVoid

Thank you, @cakeinthevoid/@cauliflowermaterial! 💕I'm so glad to hear you're intrigued about my WIP!!!!!

Currently, I am in the final stages of outlining this WIP and plan to start working officially on the first chapters around this week and the next! There will be a taglist then and I'll make sure to add you to it if you'd like, let me know in the replies of this post! I'll also be making a WIP Intro for this story in the coming days so keep an eye out for that!

As for what inspired it, it's a bit of a chaotic answer but I'll try my best to explain it: I've always loved science fiction, especially space opera (Star Wars, Star Trek, Guardians of The Galaxy, Voltron, etc, that's my jam!) and space exploration/adventure, so I've always wanted to write my own story like that one day! That's one of the reasons I came up with Supernova Initiative, there's more.

I had also been wanting to write a heist story, in the style of Bad Guys or Six of Crows, with a crew of morally grey but good-hearted outcasts doing wrong things for the right reasons. I also love stories about outlaws forming a found family and rebelling against an oppressive or corrupt system by breaking the rules. That is also super cool! So here we have reason/inspiration number 2!

I'm also a huge fan of futuristic/cyberpunk settings, especially when set in deep space, and dystopic high-tech societies that seem perfect but are actually hiding terrible dark secrets. I also wanted something to give my story a unique twist, so I started brainstorming and came up with a feel of the core themes this book will cover and the MCs will have to deal with/fight against - illegal human experimentation/bioengineering mad scientists, corruption within a powerful interplanetary system, government secrets in a high tech setting, and more!

I've also added cyborgs and humanoid aliens to the main cast just for some more fun!

Again I am so glad you are curious about my WIP - feel free to ask as many questions about it (wherever you want! my askbox/inbox are always open!) as you want! I love any opportunity to ramble about my WIPs and Supernova Initiative is one of my favorites!

OC Questionnaire!

Thanks for the tag, @eccaiia (here)!

Your questions are:

Do you have any weird or unusual habits?

Are you a night owl or a morning bird?

Who is the person you hate the most? Why

Gonna go with Renn from Song of Thorns for this one!

Are you an outdoorsy person or a fair-weather freak?

"I don't really like the sun to be honest. I'm... a dhampir, I believe that is what you humans call it, so that isn't such a surprise, haha. While I am not as sensitive to the sun as full-blooded vampiric fey are, I still don't like it - my eyes get dry and my skin hurts after a while. I absolutely rainy weather, and being indoors - especially if I can read a good book close to a fireplace. Luckily, our continent's 'gloomy' weather more than provides moments like that."

2. Do you like animals? Have any pets?

"Yes, I adore animals! All of them, and especially those people usually stigmatize as being dangerous or weird - probably because I know what it is like to be called a monster. I have a pet raven called Cornelius, but I call him Corn for short!"

3. What's one thing you keep on you at all times?

"A hidden lockpick and my thieves' equipment. You never know when it'll come in handy. I also keep my father's blood magic charm, though I never really had to use it and mostly keep it for sentimental reasons rather than anything else."

Tagging: @smol-feralgremlin, @kaylinalexanderbooks @littleladymab @cabbojage @lassiesandiego @little-peril-stories @oh-no-another-idea @thepeculiarbird @rickie-the-storyteller @crowandmoonwriting @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @gummybugg @forthesanityofstorytellers @doublegoblin @aalinaaaaaa @starlit-hopes-and-dreams @elshells @illarian-rambling @clairelsonao3 @conkers-thecosy @anyablackwood @diabolical-blue @cowboybrunch and OPEN TAG

For the character dynamic asks, between supporting characters - What secrets or conflicts exist between them?

Thanks for the ask, @mk-writes-stuff! I'll go with the cast of Song of Thorns (because I'm working on a chapter for it today/tomorrow!)

So, mild spoilers for those WIPs below the cut!

Between supporting characters - What secrets or conflicts exist between them?

Between Tarrant & The Twins - While there are next to no conflicts between them (except when Tarrant loses his patience at Dimya and Cyriel's recklessness lmao) there is a secret between them. Two actually (a secret Tarrant keeps from the twins and a secret the twins are keeping from him).

(Tarrant's Secret) - Tarrant hides from his cousins the fact that he is showing signs of being infected by the blood curse plague - for three reasons: 1. he is terrified of the Corvus, the royal alchemists tasked as plague doctors, as he knows the truth that the "salvation" the royal family promises plague victims is actually being used as magical experiments, 2. he does not want his younger cousins to worry about him, 3. he fears his boss (who holds his soul contract) is going to kill him or otherwise discard him (or hurt the twins) if the man finds out he is sick. As you can imagine, this has less-than-ideal consequences for him as the story progresses.

(The Twins' Secret) - As Lantern Keeper for a group of underworld mercenaries, Cyriel is plotting to find a way to overthrow/betray their leader and save Tarrant from his contract, which is a very tricky plan that backfires immensely when the mercenary leader finds out and makes Cyriel be framed for treason, caught by the local city guard and (unsuccessfully) sentenced to death. She doesn't tell Tarrant about her plan because she knows he will freak out - until he inevitably finds out either way. On the other hand, Dimya, her twin, is pretending to still be loyal to their leader (mostly because he is trying to continue Cyriel's plan in a moe subtle fashion but also because he is very much terrified of the situation they're stuck in), and has a secret he did not tell neither Cyriel (his twin) or Tarrant - he found out their boss was smuggling live, unfortunate vampires into a fighting ring and other dreadful places sponsored by the elite, but was so terrified by this discovery (and horrified that he was working for a man that would hurt so many innocent vampires for money) he didn't tell a single soul, fearing their leader would kill him for knowing more than he should, and is very much traumatized by it.

... So, basically, family communication issues at their finest.

Cadenza Novalie & her Dad - Cadenza is a young noble fey from the vampiric lands whose relationship with her Dad has become pretty strained in the past few years due to, mostly, a very bad misunderstanding. I can't go into much detail without spoiling an important plot twist but vaguely, the gist of the situation is: her Dad had to, secretly, make a tough decision in order to protect her, knowing that she would likely hate him or at least dislike him for it (it isn't anything too awful but from outsiders point of view it does look worse than it is) but would at least stay safe. They've become pretty distant since then, but still care for one another deeply and their relationship heals later on in the story once they get over this misunderstanding.

Elveryn Haven & The Main Cast (prior to his redemption arc):

As mentioned in a few other posts, Elveryn is a monster hunter tasked by the King to hunt and kill Renn (an adult dhampir) and arrest the rest of the main cast. This makes Elveryn a strong - and oftentimes terrifying - antagonistic force throughout the earlier acts of the book, as his thirst for revenge against all monsters (even good ones) makes him hunt down his targets relentlessly. So one could safely say that yes, there is a lot of conflict between them. And even after he starts to undergo his redemption arc while being forced to work with the main cast for a common goal, there is still a lot of tension between him and them (he considers them his enemies and they still haven't really forgiven him/still fear him for trying to hunt Renn, though they do find a common ground eventually and do become friends later into his redemption route).

The main cast only later finds out that the real motive for his hatred of monsters wasn't prejudice, but actually a thirst for revenge and grief over losing his little brother in a monster attack years ago, and the fact he - deep down - blames himself for not finding him. After his redemption arc, they make amends and finally become good friends, as he realizes the wrongs of his ways.

Renn Atrius & Prince Alaric:

While they technically are friends/allies from the very beginning and are on the same side of the book's conflict, there is some tension between them. Renn has a strong hatred and distrust for human nobility - as when Renn was a child, he witnessed his beloved Dad (Kyrie, a vampire) be murdered by a monster hunter sent by the royals - and Prince Alaric is a human noble - though they have a common goal of stopping the corruption of the royal family - so the distrust/tension is always ready to reappear on the back of Renn's mind in every single interaction, though they're mostly polite to each other they do have a bit of a mix between rivalry/friendship. To make things worse, Alaric has no idea of Renn's past trauma and sometimes is painfully oblivious (not on purpose, he is just not very perceptive in that way) to any signs of it, which creates a lot of rocky patches in their communication at times.

I've been writing... Sporadically with the process of editing. Nothing has seemed to stick for making me stay on task. Except for one thing. The pomodoro method calls for one to use a kitchen timer or something similar as a time tracker, and that's been magical to have a device that ticks down the time like my new red fox buddy I picked out. His name is Stormy (time, tempus, tempest, Stormy; it makes sense to me anyway).

But I have something on the horizon sure to kickstart my creativity. The second heartbeat of this blog, my dear friend @mysticstarlightduck , has gotten me into my very first dungeons and dragons game with her. I've wanted to play for years and now I can. The math and statistics are going to be a lot for me to track and I hope I'm up for it, but my beloved halfling warlock I've had waiting for over a decade has a chance to spread her... Uh, toes? She doesn't have wings, so...

That's my update for you fine folks. I'll be trying to report less inconsistently with progress as I make more of it.

For the character dynamic asks, between Supporting Characters: What are their backgrounds and connections with each other? How do they contribute to the main plot? And, how do their relationships change over the course of the story?

(I like side characters ^_^)

Thank you so much for the tag, @diabolical-blue! I'll go with some of the most relevant side characters from Song of Thorns for this one!

Some small spoilers below the cut!

What are their backgrounds and connections with each other? How do they contribute to the main plot? And, how do their relationships change over the course of the story?

SONG OF THORNS

There are quite a few secondary characters in this WIP, and they range from secondary protagonists sort of characters to actually just side characters! Let's start with a few of them:

Tarrant - Tarrant is a close friend of Cyriel - one of the mercenary twins who becomes Roselyn's friend - and is overall rather important to her backstory. Tarrant is the twins' half (illegitimate) cousin and is the only family they've ever really known. He taught them how to survive on their own, abilities that allowed them to thrive and eventually be taken under the wing of a local bounty hunter. Tarrant, unfortunately, had his soul sold against his will by his parents to a cruel local mobster/warlord, Gideon Alameth, in a contract in exchange for a lot of money, and currently is looking for a way to free himself from said binding contract - he wants to be able to choose his own fate and no longer be the plaything of people much more powerful than him. He contributes to the Main Plot in two ways: 1. He has his own subplot where he is trying to free himself from his contract, and 2. He serves as a voice of reason for the reckless twins and is very knowledgeable about their lawless hometown's inner workings, making him a very valuable ally for the MCs.

Elveryn - Elveryn is a human monster hunter, the deadliest of the land. As of the start of the story, he is an antagonist, tasked by the King with hunting down and killing Renn, who is a dhampir, and bringing Renn's human associates/friends (Alaric, Roselyn, Orianna, etc) back to the capital for judgment. He is an infamously ruthless and resilient young man, whose hatred of monsters is only surpassed by his thirst for revenge and his grief for his little brother, whom he believes was murdered by vampires (and blames himself for not saving him in time, though he won't admit it). He is intelligent, fierce, and relentless, wielding a crossbow of his own creation armed with explosive silver bolts. He proves to be, over time, a truly terrifying opponent to the main cast, but there may still be redemption for him down the line. He is one of the most important side characters of this story and is a part of one of the most emotional plot twists in the book.

Aelia the Bloody - The first "successful" victim of the Sanguinex, Aelia was an innocent girl whose soul was bound to that of the eldest princess of the royal family 100 years ago (Princess Cordellia was dying from the plague that had swept through the land - which is very very important to the current plot - so the Royal family funded the studies of blood magic by human mages, dubbed Sanguinex, in search for a cure for the blood curse plague. The magic serum created was said to grant people vampiric abilities and more - and Aelia was one of the test subjects used by Prince Larkin - who is currently the ruling king of the city and the princess' younger brother - to achieve the cure, and the only successful one, the only one who survived. Aelia transformed into what is currently called a Faux Vampire or a ghoul and her now immortal soul was bound to the dying princess', granting her an extended life. Aelia was locked away in the bowels of the castle, and the princess never found out the truth about how she was cursed. 100 years later, now, Aelia has grown into a young adult - vampires like her age very, very slowly - and has been driven slightly unhinged by her transformation and imprisonment, though she yearns for freedom and revenge and wants to be reunited with her family (who are all long since dead, unfortunately). Aelia is the first person to ever be artificially turned into a living, or unliving, vampire, and is tied to the origin of the Sanguinex Arts currently wielded by the Royal regime. She befriends the main cast after they discover her existence, the first friends she made in a whole century, and proves a valuable, if unstable and murderous, ally.

Lady Elenah - She is Prince Alaric's stepmother and essentially the person who truly raised him, being a true mother to him. She is a very much motherly woman, and also has a fiery, loving temper that imposes respect in those around her. She cares for Alaric own as her own. She is instrumental to the MCs discovering some of the intrigues from the royal court and being a very much no-nonsense, determined woman, she is also important in other aspects of the story and is a very active character in the plot! She is also willing to manipulate others and lie through her teeth to get what she wants and keep her son safe, but would never hurt a fly if she had the choice.

Jasen Lethia - He is more of a secondary protagonist or at least very important character. Jasen is the older brother of Roselyn Lethia and him being kidnapping is the inciting incident that sets the story in motion. Since he spends most of the earlier acts of the book, until mid-act 2/3 actually missing from the story due to him being held captive by the nobles, before he is found and becomes an active part of the plot, he can be considered a side character during those acts in the book. I can't go into too much detail about him without essentially spoiling a lot of important plot points, but know that he is important to the story and is also a great older brother to Roselyn and Portia!