#dreamshadow

How many dragon OCs do you have, and would u plz talk about the lore you have for them?

Never apologize for asking!

(I, however, apologize for taking a while to respond ldkdl)

Hello! I think I don't have dragon OCs in the way you mean, but I do have dragons in my stories! :D They just tend to not be the POV characters and have evolved as part of the worldbuilding more than anything else.

In my current main WIP, Dream's Shadow, "dragon" is the word used for any animal with 4 limbs and 2 wings, and the main ones that show up in the story basically fill the same niche as birds (while birds also exist). They're sentient and smart and have a much bigger importance in the grand scheme of things, but my main characters don't know that yet. (There's a lot more foreshadowing of it in this current draft, but not more than that yet). To them, dragons are slightly smarter wild animals that also talk (to some limited degree); you can befriend them, but they aren't domesticated. Even so, they're seen as messengers of one of the major figures in the religion my main characters follow. In the grand scheme of things, it turns out that they're extremely powerful beings in their own right, who can tip the "cosmic" scales in your favour if you treat them well (or the other direction, if you treat them badly). They're originally from another world, and some of them are also reincarnations of once-human souls.

Ages ago I made a wip meme powerpoint, which is still mostly up to date, so I'll also put that here :D (it explains the more mundane things a bit more)

lskdjfdls i am so sorry for the incredibly late response, i saw your ask, went !!!!!!! but it was late and then it was marked as read and i forgot about it again :c thank you so much for your interest and the ask!!! i really appreciate it, even if my brain is stupid sometimes

ANYWAYS

my fave part of writing it has been all the worldbuilding in later drafts, and also just ... having seen how it develops, really? how i refine the world and society and dig in a little deeper in some areas, or how characters have changed through the drafts, or who the characters have become :'3 i've been working on it (on and off) since nanowrimo 2014 and it's come so far and it's changed so much, kinda just like me ... and it's really cool to see that in the story and the worldbuilding and the characters too? :'3 i really don't like editing all that much, but rewriting is Fine Actually, and i love rewriting scenes in a way that makes them Sparkle afterwards, or giving them the certain Something that makes it hurt so much more hehehe (especially on rereads)

so basically, i guess what i love about it is how much it shows me how i have grown as a person <3 but strictly speaking, writing wise.. i don't know, i love every part of the actual writing, i love shaping the words and brainstorming and dialogue and description and creating the worlds and the characters :'3 just not editing. but we are working on that. XD

initial inspiration ... it's so basic, actually? but it's also sort of a spoiler, so i will leave out that part xD it was literally just this kinda very basic "image" of a parent sitting at the bed of their child, who's in a coma after a car accident, and the ghost of the child has their hand on the parent's shoulder, and it's mainly a story about grief, in a sort of bittersweet-sad-beautiful way. And at some point the ghost-child figures out that they can create dreams for their parents, and that they can fly bc they're a ghost, and there was a demon, and the family cat could see (and help) them.

(One day i want to go back to that original concept, it feels like something that might work as a graphic novel?)

At that point i wasn't a very good writer yet though, so I could never have pulled it off in a way where it wasn't boring. So the second draft shifted it into its own fantasy universe, the characters changed a bit, it escalated somewhat.... and now it's still a story about grief and ben is still a ghost and the parents are still grieving and the cat can still see him... so the heart is still there, but it's also sort of shifted, because now it's ava's story too, and it's grown a lot around this initial seed :D

that's another thing i really love about writing. because you take a seed and then the story grows out of it, and who knows if it's a flower or a tree by the end?

Things i am excited to get to ...

So, i am in the 6th draft now. a friend finished her beta read in ... july? i think? and i haven't gone back to it since then due to various reasons (but mainly uni and No Time To Write). previously i'd hoped that i could finally leave it be structurally, and just do line edits and stuff (my beloathed kjdjfd). turns out the first act is still too slow and needs some reworking. and all reworking i'd done previously hadn't done the trick, so i guess shifting things a bit isn't enough!

but thankfully my wonderful friends @ettawritesnstudies (and @thehollowbetween and @lady-redshield-writeswith research) helped me figure out some stuff with how i can solve the issues, maybe. and what i'm most excited about is that this will include the addition of early days sound recording technology now, and possibly also early stages photography (like daguerreotypes maybe?), because it fits into the world and story and plot so seamlessly as though i'd planned it from the start (particularly with the mcs' mother being an engineer/inventor)!

so basically there are some scenes now that offer a view into the past of my characters through really old recordings that degrade as you listen to them, because i have gotten very :hypereyes: at that kind of tech and the wonderful(ly evil) things i can do with it. :3

I am VERY excited about diving deeper into the research and then figuring out how to rework the story, and then actually writing the sixth draft for nanowrimo this year :D

Tagged by @adayforducks thank you! <3 I didn't even know ppl still used the spreadsheet, I'm so glad you did :D

She doesn’t know what this means for her future, but she knows that she isn’t lost, even if her name on the metal plate claims otherwise.

Incidentally, this is also the very last line of the wip cause I finished Dreams draft 5 tonight oops :D 3 days early aaa

tagging @corishadowfang @kittensartswriting @ettawritesnstudies @fatal-blow and anyone else who wants to!

AAAAAAAAA

i have like 3 short chapters left?? what

Hello everyone!

I managed to finish the fourth version of my main WIP about a week ago and would love to see what other people think! <3 So below there’s an intro, and a mini excerpt from the start of the story can be found under the cut <3

DREAM’S SHADOW|

Book 1 in a series; Version 4.1

LENGTH | 132,166 words (according to scrivener)

GENRE | dark fantasy set in another world, hopepunk, creepy/horror elements, small scope that will transition into epic fantasy later on in the series

POV | first & third person limited, present tense

THEMES & TROPES | hopepunk, sibling dynamics, dysfunctional family, power of kindness & love, platonic love, queer characters, queer-embracing worldbuilding, mental & physical trauma, light & dark, secrets, tragedy, lies, betrayal, loss of innocence, holding on & letting go, cute creatures, (in)humanity, trees, religion & belief, growing up, monsters, dreams, nightmares.

CONTENT WARNINGS | angst, depression, anxiety, manipulation, terrible self-esteem/no self-worth/self-hatred, suicidal ideation, nyctophobia, panic attacks, nightmares, surreality/unreality, spiralling thoughts, body horror (esp eye related), scopophobia, blood, injury, violence, torture, character death (but it’s not what you think,,,)

SYNOPSIS |

When Ava and her parents arrive at the hospital, they find her older brother Ben in a deeply unnatural coma—and nobody can tell them what happened. Despite the magical abilities of the Asim Healers, there seems to be no way to save him. But then, why do they still keep him alive? As Ava slowly learns the magnitude of how terrible Ben’s situation (and impossible his future) truly are, she finds herself embroiled in a larger conflict, ready to hook its claws into her as well. And the one person she cares about most—who always had her back—is gone. So despite everything, there’s only really one choice. Find out how to save him and try anyways.

CHARACTERS |

AVA, 10. She/her/they/them. The Smol Angery Bean.  Animal (dragon :3) person, doesn’t get along with people most of the time. Basically got raised by Ben and thinks he can do no wrong.

BEN, 18. He/him. The Responsible One. Good in school, takes care of his dysfunctional family, keeps everything from falling apart. Everyone thinks he’s perfect. Is selfless to a fault. It’s a problem. No self-esteem.

ELINOR, 16. She/her. The Wayward Daughter. Got taken by the Asim as a child because of her inherent magic potential.

... and a few side characters <3

SCHEDULE ETC. |

I don’t really have a schedule during which you’d have to read anything because I’m going to be working on other stuff for the next few months (and let’s face it, we’re all busy anyways). My current time frame is “within the next 4 months would be nice” :)

I’d give you the story in ~15k chunks so it’s not all at once, I can see what you think while you’re reading it, and it doesn’t become too much (and ofc you can stop at any time if you don’t end up vibing <3).

I have a list of questions or you can just tell me what you think as you read, I am not at the point of line edits, this is more "does everything make sense” and pacing-related. <3

If you’re interested, please shoot me a message/ an ask/ email me at [email protected] <33

I’ll also love you forever if you reblogged this post so it can reach more people <3

(Taglist & short excerpt below the cut)

I got tagged in so many of these and I love them so much but this one is the newest so I’ll start here and then maybe over the course of the next few days...?

Got tagged by @timefirewrites to find love, terrible, nature and stars :D thanks for the tag <3

These are all from Dream’s Shadow Pt1

Love

I love watching featherdragons nibble sunflower seeds, they’re always ridiculously careful about it even when the seed is tiny for them, too. Socks is maybe the size of a magpie but they still make sure to remove the shell before eating the actual seed. I doubt it’s very efficient, but it’s a lot of fun to watch. It’s also great with all sorts of nuts, because sometimes the shells are so stubborn that Socks and Key have to work really hard to crack them, but they really like nuts, so watching them crow in excitement over their victory is awesome!

Terrible

“Ava?”

“Ben?” I don’t even think about it, I run through the underbrush, duck between two trees, and then—

There he is.

Except he’s just lying there, on the ground, looking half-dead and terrible. His light curly hair is a long tangle of dirt and branches, and there’s blood encrusted in it, too.

“Ben?” I whisper, and I don’t know what I dread more, him moving or him not moving.

His eyes snap open and they’re burning like the sun.

Nature

”You see that?” they ask, pointing forward with their free hand.

I do.

Less than a hundred feet away, the monsters are swarming the path. The drop on both sides is still deadly, but now it looks less supernatural in nature and more like an actual mountain ridge.

”Are you ready?” Azrae asks quietly. I don’t even know how to respond to that.

Stars

”Then let us walk,” Mikaën says, lazily twirling his fingers. The glowing light suddenly explodes into a thousand tiny ones, flitting away in all directions, becoming a thousand tiny stars on the firmament above them. The darkness seems huge, now, not as cramped and confining as before.

It’s strangely beautiful to watch someone else build a dream.

[wip file tag ask thingy]

Thank you!! :D I am ... doing my best XD There are still files in the not sorted section ,,, that need sorting ,,, oh no

I think you know this one already but eyyyy dragons ... :D

Absolutely! :D Thanks for the ask <3

[folder ask game thingy] [about dream’s shadow]

I won’t get into the deep details of how it all works and where it comes from because it’s Deep Spoilers but!

There’s the divide between Asim magic and Soulbinding magic. Soulbinding is the natural form, asim magic is basically the twisted, broken version of it. Asim magic is mainly element-based (but you can combine elements, you just specialize in one final “task”, basically. It’s not seperated like in A:TLA). It’s also deeply addictive, and destroys its users over time.

In this world, everyone has at least a tiny bit of magic. The Asim are those with enough potential to cross a certain threshold and be discovered during the Testing.

There are two ways to soulbind: the normal, usual way of using it a bit, and the “I ignore the cost and use it at its full potential” kind. For the shape triad this just depends on how much you’re willing to sacrifice, with the others the distinction is more clear-cut (marked by putting them into italics)

rest & Dream’s Shadow taglist blow the cut :)