Baroque clockpunk is a genre I had no idea existed and immediately need to know more about. AND you've got shapeshifters, my absolute weakness. Please tell me more about Sea Slip, I will devour anything you can think of 👀
Alternatively, I'm really bad at prompts but I am curious what mermaid-dragon fashion might be, given Lete's interest in the human version. Is there a story behind how they discovered their interest in fashion?
YEEE
Alrighty so: I've been stuck on a boat for a hot minute now. There's a lot of flying fish around here, and they're pretty fun to watch do their thing. So while procrastinating Tyrant for Sale, I was kinda like, but what if there were flying fish mermaids? As one does. And also as one does I very promptly concept-art-ed it out to appease the itch, figuring it would go no further because I have so many other projects I should be working on.
Yeah so obviously arting it out did not in fact appease the itch.
(idk if that'll show up blurry. sorry if it does! continuing under the cut b/c this got long)
(if anyone else would like to force me to sit down and tap out a good 500 words, here's the og post pls send help thx)
Anyway, after the initial mermaidy sketch, I very much went--okay, but what if it were a flying fish dragon??? And thus, shapeshifter, and thus, obviously, might as well be able to shift to a more human form, too (bear in mind, I also recently read Martha Wells' Raksura novels, which is probably what all this is fueled from). Shortly thereafter, still itching for mermaid-dragon-shifters, I figured I might as well sketch out a plot so I could have some fun with it after all my other projects.
This was a mistake.
There's a ton of fishermen around here. Fairly recently, I saw one group haul up a shark (they promptly began beating the shit out of it because shark), but I figure if a random group of dudes could catch a shark, presumably by accident, they could absolutely accidentally catch a dragon in mermaid form--especially if their nets are too tough for a dragon/sea serpent to chew or claw through. And if, say, the fishermen needed some cash, they could probably sell said captured mermaid-dragon to a traveling circus.
Said dragon-mermaid is very displeased by this, but by the time she realizes she can shift into a human-like (groundling) form, she's almost 2000 miles from where she was taken. Fortunately, at this point, she's been "purchased" by a very nice couple who completely understand she's a sentient creature, is suffering, and who have the cash and every intention to bring her home--until their expedition funding is cut because their patron, the duke, died, and the dead duke's son, the duke, is a dick.
So the dragon-mermaid, Lete, having now figured out she can become fairly human--enough to pass, if she wears gloves and keeps calm so she doesn't accidentally spine someone--realizes the couple who rescued her from the circus need money. And she hears about debutante season, which she understands to be a chance to earn a wealthy guy's favor, aka cash. So while her rescuers are trying to secure funding in a normal way, Lete's gone off and practiced "human" enough to start attending these balls, determined to win the money of the new duke's children, who are also participating in this debutante season.
At this point I've given in and have started writing. Whoops. I also made a map. WHOOPS.
(the relevant parts. combo of Azgaar's fantasy map generator and Legendkeeper)
Roundabout now, we have our chat about STEAMPUNK FERAL DRAGONS!!!! and I realize I should probably have a vague idea of time period for this, given that the entire plot revolves around attending balls because I really didn't fancy writing a story entirely underwater. I wasn't feeling anything regency or Bridgerton-esque, I wanted there to be magic (most of the sentient species of this world are shifters of some kind, so there's gotta be at least some magic), and after a fun little google search of various punks, I came across clockpunk, steampunk's little brother. No steam, purely wind up- often paired with a baroque or rococo aesthetic (art period after the renaissance, took the renaissance's restraint/balanced aesthetic and, very basically without any nuance, went "nah" and went on a bender). That vibe fit pretty well with what I was going for, so now the nice rescuer people are an alchemist and a clockwork mechanic, respectively, I've got a framework for the region's fashion, and we've introduced period-typical gender and religious issues to background all of this. Yay.
So now we're a good 17k into this project I said I wasn't going to work on because I have other shit to work on but Lete is very much a non-human character, and very much is not comfortable with her groundling/human-esque form--she barely tolerates her mermaid form--because lungs are gross and knees are weird and everything is just all sorts of wrong. She would very much like to go back to being her happy dragon/sea serpent true self ASAP. Unfortunately, she needs to learn to dance, first. And thus Tyrant was put on pause, entirely by accident, because Lete is fun to write.
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In answer to the other question: Lete and the dragon-mermaid-shifters don't really have fashion. They don't wear clothes. But Lete, now that she has to be dressed to pass in "polite" society, thinks the nuances and materials of this group of human's clothes are fascinating--and that if she learns fashion well enough, her non-human slips will be smoothed over as eccentricities, rather than eliciting a 'hold down the demon for dissection' reaction.
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Proof of 500!
“Breathe,” Til said, and she was flying, lifted in his arms. “Breathe, Lete. You’re alright.” The hall blurred around them. “Just a moment. Just hold it a moment longer.”
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Alrighty, y'all. Please send help. I have many WIPs and no strong urge to work on any of them.
So-
If y'all could send an ask or smthn telling me which WIP to work on, I'll get at least 500 words in it and post the last line as "proof."
Alternatively, choose a WIP or character, choose an AU or trope, and I'll just drop it here as a little short story. The goal is to get the writing juices moving again!
Misbehaving WIPS in question:
Tyrant for Sale (medieval, secondary world, heavy on the magic)
Characters of note: Kiris (disaster, most powerful sorcerer, will eat food off the floor); Iiriok (paladin-type, tries to be fair and normally just ends up being kind, infinite patience for Kiris' bullshit); Batar (will stab anyone, blackmail is her love language, will drag the other characters into a plot kicking and screaming).
Sea Slip (baroque clockpunk, shapeshifters and mermaid-dragons, plot is attending balls)
Characters of note: Lete (mermaid-dragon in question, fascinated by human fashion, just wants to go home); Samaya (a noble-born lady and a very improper one, excellent alchemist, uses her husband's research expeditions to find new medicinal plants); Til (commoner who married up, deeply in love with Samaya, a clock mechanic curious about which myths are actually just non-human communities).
On the Habitats of Gods (same world as Tyrant, only purposefully planned romance I have, light academia)
Characters of note: Miskva (working towards her degree in alchemy, villein and well aware that she's in the minority for it, terrified of her landlord but unwilling to show it); Ianov (inquisitor student who'd rather tackle a god than exorcise it, knows she's damned good at what she does, a bit feral). Random other character.
Hey, everyone! Figured it was time to update my intro.
Call me Hendo, she/her, early twenties. I write fantasy, science-fiction, and sometimes horror, all with an emphasis on characterization over plot. In my longer manuscripts, there are always dragons, a casually queer cast, and at least one explosion.
I'm happy to do beta swaps under 15k, or honestly even longer depending on what my work schedule is that week. Said work schedule varies between "I'm basically on paid vacation for the next month" to "oh shit oh shit oh shit" without much warning, so, uh, yeah.
Tag and ask games are always welcome. If you ever just want to pop by and chat, maybe to say hi, maybe to work out a sticky plot thread, maybe to talk characters or editing, I'm here for it!
My WIPs
Let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist for anything.
A young special ops soldier sets out to find and kill the shareholders who murdered her family, but revenge becomes complicated when she discovers her brother imprisoned in a facility universally infamous for its mental reprogramming.
found-family/family as a choice, introspective narration, stoicism, revenge, space roombas
WIP intro | tag: attenuate/reverberate
Prince for Hire | new-adult | draft 3, 110k | doing a paper edit
A prophetic con-artist is tricked into becoming a prince and entering a conquering empress' Competition to rule the region.
rags-to-riches, learning to forgive, first steps of romance/learning to trust, magic causes more problems than it solves
hiii!! it's been a while! hope you're doing well :)
idk how new it is but i like the prince for hire banner!! i gasped so loud when i saw it (AND THE BOOTS ON IT) on your recent prince for hire deleted scenes post lol
@shrunkupthejams!! Life is good :) Hope it is for you, too!
And yes!! Banners!!!! @daisywords made them for me a bit ago, and they're fantastic. She nailed the colors and images and font and yeah. Any opportunity to use? 10/10 taking it.
Removed the first two chapters. It now begins with Kiris in the bathtub, and is gonna be a bit of a firehouse of context and the like until I can weed it out a little more.
Removed chapters 9-14 for rewriting. They originally focused on the Competition of the Turre, and I need them to focus on Kiris' attempts to save Prince Thaav, Iiriok's investigation into Kiris, and the Turre provoking the princes into infighting.
Replotted the end to establish a clear, single-book bad guy, since although the Turre are the BBEG, they're really just setting for this book, and will be the primary bad guy in, oh, say, book three (Iiriok's).
Depending how much I can salvage from those deleted chapters, expect deleted scenes coming soon!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Still in the wild woes of draft three. This draft is now affectionately known as the exposition draft!
First half changes: vastly increasing the prominence of Kiris' mentor figure, and restructuring Kiris' first motives to seem to stem from them. Also, increasing Iiriok's suspicion of Kiris, and thereby increasing Kiris' action-desperation as well as overall plot tension levels. Clarify and explain worldbuiding. Add a little more on Evina. Clarify who knows what about Kiris' magic (and oddities within that magic).
Second half changes: Kiris' self-hatred (sorry, buddy) needs to be emphasized to the point that it's clear why he'd rather just abandon himself and carry on as his fake prince identity. Rework several newly introduced inconsistencies stemming from increasing mentor prominence in the first half. Add 2 missing Iiriok/Kiris scenes. Increase Evina's presence overall to frame her as the predominant antagonist of this novel.
Scribbled out the major subplots of Prince real quick. Surprisingly efficient way to figure out what I was forgetting to foreshadow, whose motivations I completely forgot to clarify, and why the second to last scene just wasn’t coming off right.
Would recommend, if you’re stuck in an editing stage.
[image id: a printer sheet of paper with scribbly handwriting in 5 columns, with sideways text between the columns /end id]
Name one food you are craving right now. And a book/movie you would like to enjoy while eating it.
Pizza Hut breadsticks. Nice and hot and fresh as they ever get, slightly oily. Double order, preferably.
For movie: I’d watch the Martian again in a heartbeat, else, I’ll take Down Periscope. Seen that thing too many times but the whale scene never fails to make me laugh.
If tv show, Doctor Who. Preferably the season with 12 and Bill.
(Instead, the tv is currently receiving reruns of Friends, and I have a clementine of unknown age…)
