#gmsb

I've been thinking about Golden Maiden, Silver Bride last couple of days, so I made the central characters in this picrew!

Miävi (MC)

she's basically a magic robot made out of silver and gold

she was created couple of years ago and her body was made to be adult's body in shape but because she's not human with human brain that needs development, in her behavior and understanding she's basically a teenager/pre-teen, though of course she has less life experience than a human teenager

she's sort of a mix of veere (a sort of demigod, who are kinda distantly like elves (though based on Baltic Finnic mythology's Kalevanpojat/Kalevipoeg)) and mountain elf of metals, since she's made of metal and a part of the soul of her creator, Tyynövin, who is veere

she's based on the mythical figure Kultaneito (Golden Maiden) from Baltic Finnic mythology

she's very sheltered and a people pleaser and extremely repressed (has some anger issues buried deep into that repression)

Tyynövin made her to be his perfect bride, but she was not and he planned on murdering dismantling her, so she escaped

Tiera

Miävi's guard and father figure

human

he was extremely devoted to Tyynövin, but he became attached to Miävi and when Tyynövin was about to kill her, he choose her over his loyalty and helped her escape

Tyynövin's magic was keeping a curse from spreading in his body though, so when he is on the run with Miävi, the curse slowly destroys his body

he's quiet, not great in social situations and looks always angry, but is also very caring

extremely divorced even though he is actually still married

he's extremely lightly based on the mythological side character of the same name from Baltic Finnic mythology

(in the myths he's a brother in arms to Lemminkäinen and because he's so eager to get to war he doesn't consummate his marriage with his newlywed wife, and with the homoerotism inherent to all-male armies I could only think there's no heterosexual explanation for this, and I knew I needed to make a character out of it)

Vanaróu (Vaan)

he's a veere from Caie's clan

his character is also lightly based on the tragic hero Kullervo from Baltic Finnic mythology

Tyynövin is from the Urva's clan, who massacred the Caie's clan, which only Vaan survived, so in vengeance he killed Tyynövi's wife, which is why Tyynövin tried and failed to replace her with Miävi

Vaan lives with humans who try to stay independent from the Urva empire

he has a bloodthirsty talking sword and regenerative magic that heals his wounds

he's a certified himbo, but also has a violently angry side, though he rarely let's it be seen

GMSB tag list: @siarven @worldbuildng @outpost51 @faelanvance

Let me know if you want to be added or removed!

I haven't written, but I have finally come up with a new title for Golden Maiden, Silver Bride! I didn't like the original title from the beginning, but it's easier to talk about it when it has a name, so I used it as a working title. The new title is The Song Of A Golden Ghost. In Kalevala Väinämöinen calls the Golden Maiden a ghost of gold, when he is explaining to Ilmarinen, why she's not a good bride. I thought that sounded nice and i think it captures a lot of thematic meaning. It can be interpreted as meant in a dismissive way and as a contrast to humanity, so as a title referring to the hero of the story it's kinda reclaiming it. And it can be also interpreted as spirit of gold, which does fit Miävi.

I'm planning for this being a trilogy and while Miävi will be staying as the main character, the first book focuses on her story, which loosely adapts the Forging of the Golden Maiden myth, while the two other books will focus on stories of other characters. The second book will focus on Vaan, who is loosely based on Kullervo, and will loosely adapt Kullervo's myth. The last book focuses on Eio (Vaan's sister), who is loosely based on Lemminkäinen (gender swapped though), and adapts parts of that mythology.

I haven't decided on the names of the two other books yet, but they will follow "The Song Of..." formula. I'm planning for the narrator to be omniscient and a sort of storyteller/bard in-universe who much later relates the story, though I don't think I'll ever make that explicit. Because the story is based on Baltic-Finnic mythology, stories are passed down by basically bards (the Finnish term is "poem singer") and are therefore songs. It also refers to the magic system being based on songs. I have decided on the series name though, which is Songs of Veerelings. Veerelings are sort of elves/demigods, based on Kalevanpojat (Kalevapoeg in Estonian) from Baltic-Finnic mythology, and Vaan, Eio and kinda Miävi too are veerelings. (Though Miävi is also other things because she's a robot.)

GMSB (from now on SOV) tag list: @siarven @worldbuildng @outpost51 @faelanvance @poetinprose

I have been here for a long time now, but I've been very inconsistent through the panini, but especially this year. My studies have been very demanding and my mental health has been not great, which is why I've been writing barely at all during this year. But the uni semester is basically over and I finally got ADHD medication (yey!!!), so I feel like I can handle more things at a time now!

All that said, hello, hi, I'm Karkki (she/her)!

I write queer fantasy in different forms for adult audiences. I like to write dark, a little twisted and bittersweet stories with historical and mythological inspirations. I love doing meticulous worldbuilding and genre combinations. Outside of writing I do art (more on my art side blog), sew, obsess over dress history (more on my other side blog) and study architecture and architectural history. I miss doing tag games, it was so much fun, and I'm very happy to be tagged to them (do people still do them?) though as a warning I've always been bad at answering them in timely manner (I blame ADHD). My blog (and art blog too) is in dire need of some updating. Only WIP page I have up is for BCC and it's very out of date.

I know a lot of other writeblrs became inactive or less active during the panini, so I would love to hear who of my mutuals are still here or here again posting about writing, and find other active writeblrs too! So please let me know if you post about your writing, even if not very actively, and show me your WIPs! I want to check them out!

I've acquired some new WIPs even if I haven't been writing really so here's a quick little intro to my ongoing WIPs some of which I have talked about here before, some of which I haven't. I also have WIPs that are currently shelved but I might get to back to at some point.

In The Name Of Violence

status: outlining, on hiatus

Living in the poor side of the great port city Mearemin isn't ever easy, but more so, if you are an ex-assassin hunted by your former comrades of the crime organization you once called family, hiding in a forgotten and very sentient library, which doesn't want to let you go, working as a private detective to survive and watching by as the dead body of your father figure turns into something very monstrous while terrorizing the city. So Ainur isn't doing great. Things change though, and not necessary for the better, as a noble knight comes for their help to figure out who murdered her husband, son of the most notorious crime leaders of Maeremin, their former boss.

Dark gaslamp fantasy | Gothic fantasy world | Crime | Murder mystery | Cosmic horror | Body horror | Illusion magic

Bear Castle Cycle

status: drafting, re-outlining

Thirteen years after a civil war the four surviving children of the disposed duke are living in hiding. Valeri and Fiolev, the two youngest, have finally gotten out of poverty to a middle class life under a pseudonym, thanks to Valeri's military career. But that same military career separates them as the empire is heading into a continental war. Cassia, the second oldest, acts as an opera singer and courtesan to spy for the enemy of the empire. Faerathos, the oldest, is hostage in the imperial court trying to uncover the secrets behind the civil war while dipping into politics as much has he is allowed under the empress' watchful eye. Industrialization and war on horizon means big changes and maybe a possibility for revenge or justice.

Dark gunpowder fantasy | Industrial fantasy world | Political intrigue | Mystery | Horror elements | Dragons | Sentient magic | Vengeful spirits

WIP page | Masterpost | Maps

Cast: Faerathos | Valeri | Faélci

Songs of Veerelings - The Song Of A Golden Ghost

status: development

A mechanical maiden forged from silver and gold, Miävi, travels the foreign northern lands with her human protector, Tiera. She is on the run from a veere (demigod race) ruled empire, after her creator tried to dispose of her, when she didn't live up to his vision of a perfect bride. A curse that will slowly crumble Tiera's body starts spreading and the only thing that can stop it is releasing a god imprisoned in the imperial palace. To save Tiera in return, Miävi will have to face her creator again.

Dark fantasy | Loose retelling of The Forging of the Golden Maiden myth | Pre-medieval Finnish fantasy world | Music based magic | Finnish mythology elves | Apocalyptic | Body horror | Environmentalist horror

Be All My Sins

status: research and development

Mary falls into depression following her friend's untimely death. She's institutionalized for a short while after she thinks she sees her friend alive and has a mental breakdown. Her friend's family then invites her to their country manor in Scotland's cost to recover and share their grief. There she's drawn to a mysterious group of Spiritists, who believe her friend was a victim of vampires.

Aune is a young peasant living in late 16th century Swedish Finland, where military dictatorship is rousing a spirit of rebellion among the desperate peasantry. She meets a fascinating foreigner, who teaches her how to read and write and many other things in exchange for her blood. Knowledge is power, but as the tensions explode, it's still not enough to prevent the bloodbath.

Gothic horror | Gothic romance | Psychological horror | Mystery | Historical fantasy | Victorian Britain as main setting | Vampires

Thank you for tagging me @pheita!

RULES: make up what would be in a limited edition loot/gift box for your WIP

I'll tag @sleepyowlwrites, @emilyoracle, @adie-dee and @kjscottwrites if you want!

I have Ideas for Golden Maiden, Silver Bride.

bronze jewelry, very Iron Age/early medieval Finnish jewelry inspired, could be couple of different versions and you don't know what you'll get, I'm thinking a brooch, pin and circlet. Here's some related sketches I've made to give an idea what I'm thinking of

character art of Miävi (the robot girl in sketches), Tiera, Eio and/or Vaan

concept art of some elves, for example a large monstrous forest elf made out of roots, animal bones, mold, mushrooms and moss

couple of different bookmarks with patterns and colors of the different veere (demigod race) clans and human tribes, maybe again there's several of them and each box would get like a selection of three?

an album of songs that appear in the story played with appropriate instruments (often kantele/kantele-like-instrument, sometimes lute etc)

a zine of The Forging of the Golden Maiden myth (which the story is a loose retelling of), maybe including couple of different known versions of it and a little explanation of historical/mythological background?

Your WIPS all sounds like so much fun. I am especially captivated by Golden Maiden/Silver Bride! So much tension!

What myths/history are you inspired by? I would love to hear more about your characters and what inspires the situations you out them in :)

Happy STS!!

And thank you so much!!! ;-; <3<3 I'm so glad you find it interesting!!

In general I get most of my inspiration from Finnish/Baltic Finnish mythology, but I love learning about other mythologies too and getting inspired by them, for example Old Norse, Slavic and Etruscan mythologies. Golden Maiden, Silver Bride is mostly inspired by and a loose retelling of the Baltic Finnish myth "The Forging of the Golden Maiden". It's one of my favorite myths of Baltic Finnish mythology.

In the myth Ilmarinen (a smith god or maybe giant/demigod, he's one of the Kaleva's sons who are a group of men, usually brothers, that are superhuman giants and possibly gods) lost his wife, who he loved deeply, and in a misguided attempt to ease the loss he forges a replacement wife out of silver and gold. But when she is cold and hard (I assume both physically and figuratively), he realizes gold and silver won't replace his wife and destroys the Golden Maiden. This is presented very much as a lesson for Ilmarinen to learn about grief, and it's that too, but I always wondered what about the Golden Maiden? The myth doesn't really tell anything about her, but she's such a cool character, an ancient magic robot lady?? It's also kinda fucked up how she is described as being very alive and his wife, yet treated very much like a literal object and just killed off because she didn't make the man less sad. So for a long time I wanted to do a short comic about the myth from the perspective of the Maiden, and the idea eventually morphed into a whole fantasy story :D

My story sets in a fantasy world and the Golden Maiden, Miävi in the story, survives and the story basically start where the actual myth ends. In my story her character arc is about figuring out who she is outside of her creator, Tyynövin, and detangling the expectations she was born to from her personhood. She starts as very lost and confused, and basically unable to want anything, but becomes my favorite kind of female character, unhinged and full of rage, as she comes to understand how terribly she was treated. I have some sketches of her!

Tiera is also very loosely inspired by Baltic Finnish mythology. His mythological namesake was a human (?) warrior side character, but beside that he has very little to do with his mythological counterpart. In the story he was Tyynövin's trusted house guard and keeping Miävi (who he named because Tyynövin didn't even bother to name her) safe became his responsibility after her creation. He's really the only person she forms a meaningful relationship with and when he hears Tyynövin is planning to kill her, he can't bear to watch by and instead runs away with her. It's very much a oh-shit-I-accidentally-adopted-this-child-I-guess-I'm-a-father-now situation (she's not developmentally a child, but she has very limited experience and understanding like a child, because by the story starts she was created like two years ago). I also have couple of sketches of him!

What are some of your favorite things about each of your current WIPs?

Happy STS to you too! I am, thank you! I hope you're having good time with it too. Thank you for the nice question!

In The Name Of Violence: I'm having a lot of fun with the magic system. There's basically three linked but separate magic systems, alchemy, foreseeing and nymph magic. It's basically me trying to fit all my favorite magic systems tropes together in the most self-indulgent way possible, mainly magic as an art form, magic as science and ritualistic magic. Alchemy is mostly just a little weirder chemistry and not used in very magical ways, except in it's subgenre illusion magic, which is the primary form of magic used. Illusion magic is an art form in universe, used for storytelling, decoration etc. It's kinda like alchemy is the science you need to make paints and illusion is the art of painting. Foreseeing is very much tied to the religion and it's only legal for priests and knights (basically warrior priests). It's very ritualistic and much softer than alchemy or illusion magic (which as an art form is fairly soft itself) and to be able to do it you need to eat a piece of sky god's flesh, which gives you ability to open an extra eye in the forehead, which can glimpse into the future. Nymphs, kinda terrifying nature guardians, have magic that can create things from energy found in nature, so kinda elemental magic but with a price. They are rare and usually hostile to humans so not people don't really understand their magic.

Be All My Sins: I'm in general easily scared by horror, but I'm discoring I love to write it, at least like Gothic horror, with more emphasis on atmosphere than scares. I have before had body horror elements but it's fun when I can in this story really lean into them. I'm also loving the characters! There's will be a built up to them going full feral, and it will be so much fun to unravel these characters :'D

Thank you for tagging me @draculinawrites! I'll do this for Golden Maiden, Silver Bride!

Thank you for tagging me @laplumedemaureen!! I'll tag in turn @ettawritesnstudies @toboldlywrite @splashinkling and @pheita!

I'm not drafting right now, but when I outline or develop a story I like to write scenes I have in mind for it to better get to know the characters so I have some new lines from those :D This one's for Golden Maiden, Silver Bride.

Content warning for a bit of body horror (specifically a description of quite intense magical burns, it's a little gross).

"If you're going to break your body, don't you dare do it for me."

Something harsh in his voice made Tiera look at him. His usually sunny face was all sharp angry edges.

"I want you whole. Intact." A crack in his voice betrayed him.

For a moment Tiera forgot to breathe. I want you whole. But he wasn't, was he. The thought sank like cold iron in his stomach. "My body is already broken."

Before Vaan had the change to protest, he carefully lifted the sleeve over his left arm and revealed the arm covered in bandages. He unfolded the bandages layer by layer, each one more covered in blood and rot. Vaan's face turned from concerned to painful and in the end nauseated. He couldn't seem to turn his eyes away from the black charred hand and bits of arm, where the charcoal was cracking apart leaving a few fingers and chunks of muscle missing. Where the skin hadn't yet turned into charcoal, it was covered in purulent scorched burns.