Spiritwalker Wip - Tumblr Posts

It's so funny editing the last few chapters of my first draft because it's so obvious I was rushing to get to the end. Take a look at the difference between my first attempt and my second draft.

First draft

It took several minutes for my morning haziness to wear off the next morning. I was dressed and ready, waiting for Maya. Then I remembered what she had done and that she was not coming. I was almost late to class. Catalina pulled me aside after class to update me. She said there was not much her mother could do since we were attacked outside of school, but she was going to announce later that we are all to stay on campus for the time being. 

Second draft below cut

Maya did not show up to my room the next morning. I did not wait for her. Dressing was harder than ever with only one completely functional hand. I struggled with buttons and tying up my hair, and the strain I put on my hand worsened the pain so badly I had to stop multiple times. It took almost the entire morning to ready myself, but I could not rely on my attendant. Not anymore.  I pushed Maya to the back of my mind on my way to class, having decided the night before that the best course of action was to discuss this issue with Madame Spiritwalker. As the highest authority figure in our clan, she had the right to know.  I trusted her to make a decision that deep down I knew I could not. A month with Maya as my attendant made me emotionally involved, and that was the last thing a Spiritwalker needed. My mother taught me how to be just. I did not want her to see how I fell short of that quality in this situation. By the time I made it to the hallway, classroom doors were already slamming shut. Catalina waited outside one of them, her concern placed elsewhere. She frantically glanced around the hallway, visibly letting out a breath when she saw me. When I came close, she pulled me off to the side with her. “Are you alright? I’ve been waiting for you all morning.” She was thinking about last evening. I knew because I was too. Placing Maya out of my thoughts left room to be filled, and the knowledge that someone tried to kill me demanded that space. I realized that in the chaos of the event, I never did get to tell everyone that I was alright. I reassured Catalina then, making sure she knew my lateness was about my hand, not the attack. The bell rang mid-sentence, but from her softening features I knew she understood. “I wanted to tell you,” she hurried, “that my mother said since the attack happened off campus there is nothing she can do, but she is going to address it.”

Spiritwalker taglist (ask to be added or removed): @the-golden-comet @pixies-love-envy

Every so often I realize my characters are just other characters. Today I realized Catalina is just Willow from The Owl House. Down to the plant magic, thinking they aren’t strong because they were bullied by another witch, and actually being one of the strongest characters. What’s tripping me up is that I created this character before I ever watched toh

Find the Word Tag

Thanks for tagging me @the-golden-comet! I love these ones

My words: cold, shiver, stream, drop

Your words: change, love, power, smart

Cold

Her skin was so pale, so cold.

Shiver

My body shivered but my blood was alight with adrenaline.

Stream

By the time I was done, the first rays of daylight began to stream in through the windows.

Drop

The plops of water droplets splattering against the stone floor was the only sound that could be heard in the room for a time.

I'm gently tagging @inseasofgreen @novel-nook-blog

OC Reddit AITA Tag

Thanks for tagging me @the-golden-comet!

Rules: Make an Am I The Asshole? post (look at r/amita or r/AITA for examples if you haven’t seen them) for an OC. The community will then vote to see who is the asshole in the given scenario.

I had so much fun with this. It’s from Daron’s pov

Am I the asshole for stealing a horse?

I (18 f) was sent to a magic academy a few weeks ago. While here, I discovered a spirit hidden in a secret room in the tunnels under the school. Normally I would bridge the spirit—as it is my duty as a Spiritwalker—but I was struggling because she remembered nothing of her life. I needed more information to complete this task. That is when this girl who has been following me around suggested I leave for the weekend to another witch territory where they have the largest library in our country.

Since coming to the academy, I had been taking a horseriding course, which gave me the idea to take the horse. Walking would take me days and I could not ask the headmistress because she would not lend out a horse for this reason. I did not necessarily steal the horse because I brought her back and she did consent to go with me (confirmed by Aria, who can speak to animals). I also made sure she had plenty of water throughout the journey and made enchantments for her so she would stay strong and swift.

In the end, the information I gathered from the library helped me discover the spirit’s identity and put together her past. Using that information, I finally bridged her, so I do not see how I am in the wrong.

Gently tagging @inseasofgreen @somethingclevermahogony @sarandipitywrites

Favorite Line Tag

Thanks for tagging me @inseasofgreen! This conversation is everything to me. I’m excited to share it!

So many words swarmed inside me. So many apologies, admissions, feelings. More than I ever felt before, all fighting their way to be the first to escape. As I stared at the unsightly blue streaks permanently marring my hand, somehow the words that pushed their way out were, “I am not perfect.”

Catalina tilted her head up, meeting my eyes with her soft ones. “No one is. That’s why we’re witches, not goddesses.”

She stayed silent for a second, thinking. “I actually think they were not perfect either. If they were, they would have kept their power instead of giving it to us.”

“I need to be perfect. When I am not, things like this…”

“It’s not your fault.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “She was my attendant. She took care of me, but I was still responsible for her. I am responsible for my whole clan.”

“You are not responsible for the decisions other people make. You didn’t even know about Maya’s decisions, so how could you be? We cannot be perfect, Daron. We can only be better.”

Gently tagging @the-golden-comet @alinacapellabooks

Thanks for tagging me! I'll do the first and most recent lines for my favorite OCs

Daron

First: "It is only because of both of your efforts."

Most recent: “Thank you.”

Aria

First: “For what reason are two Spiritwalkers visiting the stables?” 

Most recent: "Crows are some of the smartest birds. He’ll know where to go.”

Cassidy

First line: “Look, I’m not part of that group anymore.”

Most recent: “I won’t leave until I hear you.”

Naomi

First line: “Just a second!”

Most recent: “Not mine.”

I don't know who to tag this time so I'll leave an open tag!

First and Most Recent/Last Lines Tag

jumping in on this open tag

TPKODR all of them are last line for now as it's a wip

Daimhín

F.L.

“they are skittish.”

L.L

“take him to the brig.”

Oisìn

F.L

“I'm going to parlay with the captain. Hopefully we can come to an agreement so we can sail away from this.”

L.L

“I'm quite sure you would be able to find the isle without my directions."

Adoh

F.L

“do ya think she will wan’to tell him?”

L.L

“what happened?”

Galen

F.L

“ay, they be scared, it not be everyday that ye see a king ship.”

L.L

“begin.”

Mal

F.L

“I know I'm just the cook but are you sure that's a good idea sir?”

L.L

“for when you are done.”

Taz

F.L

“I shall not utter a word of the slight treason to anyone..if they ask you’re ensuring the safety of the ship then the crew.”

L.L

“I doubt that.”

Np tags @gioiaalbanoart @the-golden-comet @zackprincebooks @finickyfelix @thatuselesshuman @sableglass

Iris

Honestly, I constantly forget Iris exists but I was just writing a chapter with her and remembered she’s one of my favorite OCs.

Iris is a lady so she has a lot of power in the social system, but she’s very far down the line of succession. Unlike Daron, who is supposed to be the perfect image of a lady, Iris is very mischievous. She’s also lowkey a pirate, but we don’t learn that until much later.

Iris has one of my favorite designs, partially because she looks similar to me, but I also had a lot of fun with her look. She has dark brown skin and waist-length twists. She has orange eyes and red runes tattoed up her arms and across her chest.

Iris’ clan is very important to her character. The Arsonite Clan is the only clan that originated outside the mainland, so they have a different culture than the other clans. The Aquatic Clan stole their land, which started a war between all of the clans. After the war, the Arsonites were left with no land, money, or allies, and their language was on the cusp of death because they had to assimilate. Iris is very involved in her culture. She’s fluent in Arsonean and is experienced in their traditional dance.

The Arsonite Clan being left with nothing is how they ended up as pirates. They sink human ships despite the fact that humans and witches are not supposed to interact at all, and keep the spoils. When their betrayal is discovered, Iris shows absolutely no remorse. She stands by what they did to survive (as she should). I honestly want to write a spin-off of Iris’ pirate adventures when I’m done with the main story.

Iris has had a lot of development since the first draft. I didn’t know how to characterize her mischievousness, so she ended up coming off as tone-deaf and kind of annoying. In my second draft, there’s more of a balance between her causing chaos and her tenderness. I think it’s perfectly summarized when Daron asks her for a favor and Iris asks what Daron will do in return. Daron knows that Iris would help unconditionally and just wanted to stir the pot.

Fun fact: Iris was originally named Aralea after a classmate I had in second grade. Upon further thought, I realized that was too similar to Ariella—Aria’s full name—so I changed it to Iris, a goddess a learned about at a Ramses exhibit.

Spiritwalker taglist: @the-golden-comet @pixies-love-envy

Started watching Soul Eater yesterday. I didn’t have a full design for Daron’s younger brother before watching, but now he is Death the Kid.

I was running out of black and white hairdos for the Spiritwalkers and I’m kinda obsessed with this look now.

My favorite oc is Aria from my wip, Spiritwalker! She’s so fun to write because 90% of her dialogue is sass.

Aria’s a short queen that can kill you with her bare hands. She has strong, animal-like senses and can also talk to animals.

She’s supposed to break the stereotype I often see in books that girls are either really feminine or reject all feminity so I gave her typically masculine qualities, like being very strong and enjoying sports, and more feminine ones, like enjoying fashion and sewing.

who wants to tell me about their favorite original character? what do they look like? what is their personality? you don't have to include the whole plot, just curious as to what they are like as people! i loveee characters.

OC Ship Song Tag

Thanks for tagging me @alinacapellabooks! The way I already associate certain songs with my ocs.

Daron and James

Fall For You—Leela James

Everytime I hear this song I just imagine them ballroom dancing to it. I think it represents them because their relationship was arranged so neither of them expected to fall in love. Especially Daron, who was taught to never feel emotions.

Aria and Cassidy

La La Lainey—Forever the Sickest Kids

How can this song not be them when one of the first lines is “she was into girls”? Also “I need her like a victim needs a plague” because Cassidy is literally a plague victim by the end. These two are always butting heads and yet they need each other, which is another reason why this song fits.

Naomi and Leon

I Really Like You—Carly Rae Jepsen

Naomi and Leon are childhood friends, so I gave them a song that sounds a bit more childish. My friends and I use to sing it to describe our crushes back in middle school.

Gently tagging @the-golden-comet @kaylinalexanderbooks and an open tag!

I love a good bodyswap! This question is so fun.

I’d swap Aria and Daron because they’re exact opposites. It’d be funny to watch Aria try to stand up straight with Daron’s stupidly long hair and no longer having her natural strength. Daron would definitely force her to take all her responsibilities seriously and Aria would be grumpy the whole time.

Daron, on the other hand, would have such a little reaction to waking up as a different person. She’d go to class as normal and pass a bunch of tests for Aria. Her main problem would be figuring out how to take care of Aria’s wolf all day.

I would also swap Catalina and Kelsee because they hate each other. Kelsee would throw an absolute fit. One look in the mirror and she’s screaming, crying, throwing up. Then she’d realize she could use the opportunity to ruin Catalina’s life more than she already does.

Catalina would be really surprised but unlike Kelsee, be normal about it. She’d probably try to have a discussion with Kelsee about the bodyswap but at that point Kelsee would already be putting her evil plan into action and ignore Catalina. Giving up, Catalina would use the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a popular girl.

Throwing this question to the void because I'm bored: How would you go about a bodyswap episode with your characters?

(My answers below, but please rb with your own!)

For Honor's Outcasts it'd go Izjik and Twenari swap, and Djek and Sepo swap. Izjik deserves to run around with apocalyptic levels of sorcery she doesn't know how to use, Twenari deserves to be buff for a day, Sepo deserves a working voice, and Djek deserves to be tall (and also to know that Sepo is mostly grouchy because he's constantly overstimulated with his sensitive siren eyes and ears).

For Mortal God, the trade would go Astra and Ivander swap, then Mashal swaps with Elsind, Elsind swaps with Avymere, and Avymere swaps with Mashal. Astra ought to know how much pain Ivander is in on the daily, while Ivander deserves to take a break from that pain and also get bombarded by the adhd mess that is Astra's brain hardware. If Mashal gets to swap with Elsind, he gets an organic body, but a really weird one. Elsind has to do Avymere's job because you know they're not letting her off the hook just because she doesn't know what a tariff is. Also, she'll have to deal with having bones and only one face. If Avymere gets Mashal's body, they'll get to have a fun time with losing their flesh in favor of steel, yes, but also being a minority. A very valuable thing for a ruler to experience.

For Starbreaker, my opinions aren't as concrete. I just think Faalgun should get to be tall for once.

Anyways, that's all for now lol

Character Profile Tag

Thanks for the tag @alinacapellabooks. I already love Ariel <3

I was really tempted to do Daron but I'm going to shake things up and do Naomi. Staying on the topic of moon girls

Full Name: Naomi Lunaire

Age: 16

Sex: female

Species: witch

Appearance:

She reminded me of a glass doll with her wispy blonde hair and pale green eyes. Her face was heart-shaped, not a single harsh angle to be found.

Occupation: student

Family: haven't thought that far

Pets: none

Best friend: Cassidy Tempress

Describe her room:

Naomi’s room was remarkably similar to Catalina’s. She had a round coffee table in the middle of the room and shelves along the wall. However, Naomi’s shelves contained books, not poisons. Pastel pillows were laid out around the table as if Naomi expected company.

Physical Characteristics: timid, shy

Items in her bag/purse: spellbooks?

Hobbies: reading, baking, making tea

Favorite sports: not a sporty person

Abilities/Talents/Powers: she can create levitate herself, create light, and cast illusions

Relationships: she can be shy at first but when she gets used to you she gets physically affectionate and makes jokes about you

Fears: spirits, large animals, social interaction, and the list goes on

Faults: she's not very strong with her powers and gets scared easily

Good points: she's very sweet and school-smart

What she wants more than anything else: to be better at magic

Tagging: @sarandipitywrites @kaylinalexanderbooks @yourpenpaldee

OC Smash or Pass Tag

Thanks for tagging me @willtheweaver!

I think I’ll do Aria for this one.

Aria is really short (about 5’3) and muscular. She has short, unkempt blonde hair and brown eyes. She’s really into fashion and wears clothes that stand out every day.

Aria is an athletic person. She likes throwing axes and is strong enough to kill you with her bare hands (which she just might do). She has strong senses like an animal and can act feral at times.

Keep in mind that Aria is annoyed by most people and will most likely sass you. She also has a Southern drawl.

I’ll tag @alinacapellabooks @i-can-even-burn-salad and open tag!

All quotes are from my wip, Spiritwalker. These are some of my favorites!

taglist: @the-golden-comet @pixies-love-envy

Last Line Tag

Thanks for tagging me @frostedlemonwriter and @alinacapellabooks!

I spent over a day workshopping this little thing:

This school had a certain power to beckon spirits into being. It coaxed a hatred strong enough to kill and lured the weak-willed to stay forever. And now, with every spirit bridged, it beckoned me in their place. I stayed as unmoving as time with nothing to keep me company except guilt and remorse. Nothing changed. Nothing happened. If I really did become a spirit, I doubted I would even notice.

For today I’ll just leave an open tag :)

Seven Deadly Sins Tag

Thanks for tagging me @alinacapellabooks! Let’s get into it

Gluttony

Naomi. One of her favorite things to do is make sweets. She especially bakes when she’s stressed.

Pride

This one’s Aria. How can it not be when she grew up in a position of power and her magic is stronger than most? She even skips class all the time because she thinks the powers she was born with is all she needs. She looks down on humans and men and lets them know it. She even looks down on other witches, mostly Spiritwalkers for their fondness of rules.

Lust

Oh my gosh, character I’ve never talked about! Alex is the epitome of lust. He was created to chase after Aria and is only more enticed by her rejections. But of course she hates him because he’s human and a man.

Envy

Kelsee’s family have been envious of the Hemlocks for generations and wanted to be more powerful than them, but Kelsee takes it to a whole new level. When years of bullying Catalina doesn’t work, she creates a a poison to weaken her magic.

Wrath

Wrath is Maya. She would do anything for Daron, and even calls herself Daron’s weapon. She has no remorse about going against her clan’s sole purpose in life and destroying a spirit.

Greed

This is Iris, but you can’t really blame her. The other clans left hers with nothing, not even their land. She goes behind their backs and trades with some humans and sinks the ships of others for their goods.

Sloth

I guess I have to say Irene for this one. None of my characters are really lazy, but she physically cannot go anywhere.

Gentle tagging @frostedlemonwriter @i-can-even-burn-salad

WAIT I THINK I GOT IT

The school had a certain power to beckon spirits into being. I thought they were a product of its bloody past; yet a century later, it staked its claim on a third innocent. And now with every spirit bridged, it beckoned me in their place. Time had stopped for me, as unmoving as my body, which had been made heavy by guilt and remorse. Nothing around me changed. Nothing new happened. If my spirit really did leave my body behind, I doubted I would even notice.

I'm not even joking about how much I worked on this. These are all the iterations it took for me to get the paragraph right

I began to understand what it felt like to be a spirit. Unable to do anything, unsure of when the nothingness will end. I had no idea how long I had been stuck in my room for, but with nothing to keep me company other than guilt and remorse, it felt like eternity. 

In the next day I had become a living spirit. I heard no sound, saw nothing except the dark sheets I laid my head on. I knew time must have been moving, but with the curtains drawn and nothing happening, there was no indication of it. Or I had stopped existing within time, stuck in this space with only guilt and remorse to keep me company.

This school had a certain power to beckon spirits into being. It coaxed a hatred strong enough to kill and lured the weak-willed to stay forever. And now, with every spirit bridged, it beckoned me in their place. I stayed as unmoving as time with nothing to keep me company except guilt and remorse. Nothing changed. Nothing happened. If I really did become a spirit, I doubted I would even notice.

I’ve spent the past several days writing and rewriting one paragraph. h e l p

Which character gave you the most problems in your writing?

That would be Kelsee. I had a clear plan for her while outline, but when I actually started writing, that all fell apart.

By now I learned how all my characters sound, but I still don’t get Kelsee. Everytime I write dialogue for her, I think she sounds so fake. That could work because a lot of her persona is fake, but I’ll still change it if I think of something better.

I think the biggest problem with Kelsee is that she isn’t that relevant to the plot because she’s meant to be an antagonist to my mc’s best friend. There’s only two scenes where I’m confident this works. One is near the middle where Kelsee is bullying Catalina in broad daylight and Daron finally calls her out on being a bitch. This is a major step for Catalina’s development because it gives her the confidence to stand up for herself. After this, Kelsee backs off a little until this second moment, when Daron and co sees her a few hours before Daron is attacked. She’s the obvious suspect and was the original culprit—when she sees that she’ll never steal Daron away from Catalina, she falls into a jealous rage. But I changed the culprit into Kelsee’s paranoid cousin when I realized it made no sense for Kelsee to attack Daron that one time and never again. Instead, Kelses poisons Catalina at the start of the second book.

I’m more confident with Kelsee’s character in the second book because she evolves from classic mean girl to traitorous megalomaniac. She has much more impact on the plot in the sequel.

Kelsee has also gone through more name changes than any other character. Originally I wanted to name her Jordyn and pitched it to a friend at the time. She wanted me to name her Clover, but I felt that was too on the nose for a plant witch. When I broke things off with her, I settled on Kelsee, which was the name of someone I worked with and admired back then. I think there were a few more names in between, but I can’t remember.

Sometimes I think Kelsee is fine and I’m just judgemental because I’m looking at her of the writer. I won’t know until I actually finish. But anyway that’s the character who gave me the most problems. Thanks for asking!

Character Profile Tag

Thanks for tagging me @willtheweaver! I’ve been dying to do this one for Daron

Full name: Daron Spiritwalker

Age: 18

Sex: Female

Species: Witch

Appearance: Daron is very tall, about 6 feet. She has pale skin and sapphire blue eyes. Her hair stands out the most out of all her features. It’s knee-length and black with a singular white streak.

Occupation: Lady/student

Family: Madame Spiritwalker—mother, Lukas Spiritwalker—brother

Pets: She doesn’t have a pet but is close with a horse

Best friend: Catalina Hemlock

Describe her room: Plain. The headmistress set it up and she kept it that way. Her bedsheets and curtains are both black. The most interesting thing she has is a bookshelf with her spellbooks and a romance book Cassidy recommended her.

Items in her bag/purse: If she’s at school she only has her spellbooks. When she goes out she usually takes some money and water.

Hobbies: Studying

Favorite sport: She’s grown fond of horseback riding

Abilities/talents/powers: Daron is known for being intelligent, skilled with magic, and a natural leader. Her powers include being able to see and communicate with spirits and to travel to the Spirit World at will.

Relationships: Daron tries to keep all her relationships professional, including those in her own family. She is eventually forced to open up to friendship by a group of girls at school who won’t leave her alone.

Fears: Being anything less than perfect

Faults: Doesn’t allow herself to feel emotions, self-sacrificing

What she wants more than anything: To serve the needs of her people and spirits

Gentle tagging @the-golden-comet @kaylinalexanderbooks and open tag!

This far into my draft I can really see Daron’s character development. I’m so proud of my baby girl. Look!

Chapter one Daron

Something sweet rose up from my chest but I promptly tamped it back down.

I did not take even a single glance back at the black-brick mansion. My path had already been laid out, and it led away from Spiritwalker Mansion. I would not be able to keep moving forward if my head was turned back, even for a second.

Daron now

“How are you?” I searched Catalina’s foresty eyes and found no judgment; none of the expectation for apathy that I was used to. I only saw compassion. It broke me further. “It hurts.” “I know.” Catalina gently moved my head so it rested on her shoulder…and I let her.