May 14, 2025
The Fictionadventurer Guide to Building a Fictional World
Option 1: What if something glowed?
Option 2: What if a culture had elaborate traditions surrounding their names?
That's it. That's all you need.
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The Fictionadventurer Guide to Building a Fictional World
Option 1: What if something glowed?
Option 2: What if a culture had elaborate traditions surrounding their names?
That's it. That's all you need.
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.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
In the original concept for the Shadowstruck universe, the attitude toward heartlight was simple: It was believed to be an outward sign that something had a soul, and the story would involve scientists trying to show that heartlight has a physical cause unrelated to the soul. But this suggests that there is no religious truth in this world, as if all religion is wrong and science is the only source of truth. It certainly doesn't line up with how similar issues are approached in our world. It's much more realistic for science and faith to both be sources of truth, and for the errors to be caused by the misinterpretation or the twisting of science and religion.
But this requires a much more complicated history. How do we explain a world where shades weren't and aren't always seen as non-persons, but are in some places treated as slaves and non-persons by people who consider themselves enlightened intellectuals?
Since this story is focused on Western society, I'd say the best way is to roughly parallel Western European history.
In an ancient pagan era, shades were largely considered non-persons--usually killed at birth (sometimes sacrificed), sometimes enslaved, sometimes shunned like lepers. (It's possible some cultures attached some sort of mystic importance to them--thinking of them as oracles or somehow touched by the gods).
Christianity comes along (it won't be named as such, but it'll be pretty obvious what it's supposed to be) and says that of course shades are people, we're all made in God's likeness, salvation is for everyone. They could still be considered a burden or hold lesser status in practice, but over time, they became largely accepted as valuable members of the community.
Shades are relatively rare--similar rates of occurrence as certain birth defects. Notable when they show up, most people know at least a few, but they're not a huge population, so it isn't like they're a huge concern.
Then some kind of Black Plague occurs, and shades, for some reason, are much more resistant to it than the rest of the population. Suddenly, shades are a much larger percentage of the population than ever before, and as society rebuilds, this begins to frighten some people.
Some people begin to interpret religious scriptures in ways that conveniently suggest shades are a lesser class or not people at all. Verses talking about things like "God giving his light to mankind" are reinterpreted to be about heartlight--clearly those who don't have light aren't part of mankind.
There are lots of similar twistings. Heartlight is a sign of election. A shadow is a sign of inner darkness. Shades were put on earth to serve people. Their proliferation is God's punishment on mankind. The most extreme interpretations suggest that shades are fiends in human form, come to prey on souls.
You might think that the accompanying rise of skeptical rationalism would counteract these religious lies by holding to objective truth. Well, you'd be wrong!
Philosophy begins to question the notion of "all humans being equal" as absurd and not based on actual fact. Some suggest that society is a war, a survival of the fittest, and that shades, who require extra care and can so easily be dominated, have a naturally lower place in the social order.
When microscopes show obvious differences in the blood cells of shades, anti-shade groups feel vindicated--clearly shades aren't human at all, but something else.
The discovery of genetic inheritance add more layers of anti-shade rhetoric. Shades are naturally lower, a weakness in the gene pool, and they should be weeded out or eliminated.
Obsession with noble/royal bloodlines dovetails nicely with these new genetic considerations. Bloodlines without shades are clearly stronger and purer than those with shades. The birth of a shade can taint an entire family line, so such births are hidden as quickly as possible, whether by killing the child or sending it away.
Over the centuries, shades become second-class citizens, then non-citizens. Early on, they were the subject of witch-hunts, until some places subdued them into a labor force. Intermarriage with a shade is seen as basically bestiality.
Shades become a vital underlayer to this modern society. They're a convenient labor force. They're great subjects for medical testing. If you object to their treatment, you're clearly delusional--how could society go on any other way? Do you want us to go back to the Dark Ages?
Some cultures still hold onto the traditional ideals of shades as people, but these nations have their own problems, which their opponents use to paint them as backward and barbaric, clearly out of step with modern times.
I find it darkly amusing that the social upheaval that led to people with heartlight elevating themselves above shades could be called the Enlightenment.
I feel like I captured this scene perfectly, so have some more tiny bnha babies
Me: Wow, Shadowstruck development is really coming along. It's starting to feel like a real book. Maybe even a novel. A grown-up novel with important themes that feels like an original work rather than a half-baked YA-flavored derivative fanfic. Maybe I can be a Real Writer!
Realistic voice in my head: It hasn't been a week yet, don't get too excited. You always lose interest after a week.
Me, after one week passes: Well, would you look at that? All that inspiration just packed up and left town. It's a ghost town in here.
Advent Calendar: Day 12
Today's excerpt comes from the very, very first version of Shadowstruck. It's a completely different story from the one that currently bears that title. It's a different premise, the characters have different names, and heartlight isn't even called heartlight--it's just magic. The basic concept behind the world is still there, though--humans are surrounded by clouds of light, and those that don't have it are considered non-persons and kept as slaves.
This version of the story was going to be a sort of Cinderella/My Fair Lady set-up, where an enslaved girl with no magic was bought by a mysterious academic who needed her to pose as a highborn lady to help with a political plot. The vagueness of the political plot and the magic system is why this version of the story never went anywhere, but I still feel like sharing this one scene.
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A Guide to the Stories Posted On This Blog in 2024
Retellings
After Midnight
Retelling of: Cinderella (science fiction)
Word Count: 577 words (unfinished)
Premise: A young girl on another world struggles to provide for her stepsisters.
The Beggar's Door
Retelling of: King Thrushbeard
Word Count: 855 words
Premise: After a princess refuses all her suitors, her father vows to marry her to the man of his choice--but forgets to account for an old tradition.
A Daughter's Gift
Retelling of: Beauty and the Beast
Word Count: 660 words
Premise: A young woman learns the truth behind her father's disappearance and his last gift to her.
For Love of the Princess
Retelling of: Sleeping Beauty
Word Count: 2,689 words
Premise: When a curse dooms a princess and all in her palace to sleep for a hundred years, her ladies-in-waiting and a young guard stay and face the curse with her.
A Garden of Wishes
Retelling of: The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Word Count: 8,459 words
Premise: A garden boy falls in love with a princess and works to solve the magical mystery surrounding her and her sisters.
Good Rich Earth
Retelling of: The Secret Garden
Word Count: 894 words
Premise: After a childhood spent on a military space station, Mary is sent to live on a devastated Earth and becomes obsessed with finding the secret garden planted by her guardian's late wife.
Jack and His Wife
Retelling of: Jack and the Beanstalk
Word Count: 967 words
Premise: Jack's wife follows him up the beanstalk, and learns he might not be the hapless fool she'd believed him to be.
Marks of Loyalty
Retelling of: Maid Maleen
Word Count: 4,404 words
Premise: After seven years of imprisonment in a tower, a woman struggles to survive in a war-torn land, and tries to learn what has become of the prince she loved.
The Nightingale Returns
Retelling of: The Nightingale
Word Count: 743 words
Premise: A former opera singer is summoned to the deathbed of the man who once loved and abandoned her.
The Other Option
Retelling of: Rumpelstiltskin
Word Count: 214 words
Premise: When a magical creature demands a woman's firstborn as payment for help, the woman decides to save herself.
Reflection
Retelling of: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Word Count: 2,317 words
Premise: An aging, appearance-obsessed queen tries to destroy the beautiful, innocent princess she views as her rival, but may end up destroying herself.
The Unseen Soldier
Retelling of: The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Word Count: 544 words
Premise: A former soldier struggles to find a way to break his curse of invisibility.
A Wise Pair of Fools
Retelling of: The Farmer's Clever Daughter
Word Count: 4,337 words
Premise: A peasant girl outwits and captures the heart of an arrogant, overeducated king.
Original Fantasy
The Return of Queen Emma
Word Count: 933 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Portal fantasy/magical realism
Premise: After ruling as queen of a fantasy world, a girl rejoices to return to an ordinary childhood on Earth.
Daughter of the House of Dreams
Word Count: 755 words
Completion Status: Standalone fragment
Genre: Secondary world fantasy
Premise: Going to the dream shop on Faraway Lane, you'll encounter some fantastical wonders.
Honors from the King
Word Count: 2,172 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Portal fantasy
Premise: After slaying a giant, a young girl plans to ask the king of a fantastical realm to help her get home to Earth, but learns the story is not as simple as she thought.
Queen of the Fairies
Word Count: 1,769 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Historical fantasy
Premise: In Victorian England, a young girl captures a flower fairy and meets a scientist who studies them.
A Feast in the Lanternwood
Word Count: 2,031 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Secondary world non-magical fantasy
Premise: An enemy soldier begs for food at a festival held by a peaceful forest community.
Heartsong
Word Count: 558 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Magical realism
Premise: A woman struggles to find her soulmate in a world where soulmates are identified through song.
Shadowstruck
Word Count: 871 words
Completion status: Incomplete, plans to continue
Genre: Secondary world fantasy
Premise: The death of a girl's mother reveals secrets about her life.
Shadowstruck, Part Two
Word Count: 783 words
Completion Status: Incomplete, plans to continue
Genre: Secondary world fantasy
Premise: While trying to escape the country, a girl receives unexpected help from a mysterious stranger.
Sylvia
Word Count: 398 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Space fantasy
Premise: A woman must decide whether to board a ship and sail to the moon to find the brother who left the family years ago.
The Waters of Time
Word Count: 1,164 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Secondary world fantasy
Premise: A mermaid librarian travels to the past to retrieve a stolen book and finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue.
The Memory Garden
Word Count: 1,091 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Original fairy tale
Premise: The gardens of a castle have a strange relationship with time after dark.
From the Other Side of the End of the World
Word Count: 4,196 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Secondary world fantasy/time travel
Premise: A young woman writes letters to her time-traveling sister who works as a nurse in a historical war zone, and starts a correspondence with one of her patients.
Stolen Moments
Word Count: 745 words
Completion Status: Complete
Genre: Original fairy tale
Premise: At a masquerade ball, a princess encounters the husband who betrayed her.
Instructions
Word Count: 196 words
Completion Status: Complete flash fiction
Genre: Secondary world non-magical fantasy
Premise: In a fantasy kingdom, a rider is sent out with an important message.
Original Science Fiction
Warning Signs
Word Count: 189 words
Completion Status: Complete
Premise: A man having lunch at a seaside cafe receives a strange warning from a time traveler.
Beyond the Legend
Word Count: 1,097 words
Completion Status: Complete, part of Arateph series
Premise: The long-lost prince of an alien world encounters an alternate-history film about his life.
Jules and Vern
Word Count: 456 words
Completion Status: Complete, part of Jules and Vern series
Premise: On a time-travel cruise, a poor academic encounters a world-weary heiress.
A Jules and Vern Christmas
Word Count: 1,543 words
Completion Status: Complete
Premise: A poor academic offers a gift that helps a jaded heiress to appreciate the Christmas season.
Henry Brightley is so obviously a man who should be a confirmed bachelor that I'm thinking he has to be married. And there has to be a story there.
Her name's Giovanna. She's from Ivaria, where shades are treated as people, so shades' rights are just common sense to her. She's got olive skin, lots of dark hair, and has a striking beauty of the type that gets better with age. She's a doctor. From a well-to-do family that's big into charitable works. She's probably helped to smuggle shade babies to Ivaria.
She met her husband when he came to Ivaria to study (they're much more normal about heartlight there, which makes it a much better place to study it.) He was in his thirties by this time, total confirmed bachelor. She was only a few years younger, was totally fulfilled in her single life working with her large family in their charitable endeavors. She met him at some social event he was dragged to, where she took one look at this desiccated husk of an academic and went, "That one." She spent time with him, turned out to have experience that was useful in his studies, and as they worked together, he came to genuinely respect her intelligence and compassion. It took him a long time to have even an inkling of her very obvious romantic interest in him, and even longer to realize that he returned it. There wasn't so much a marriage proposal as a mutual recognition of their desire to get married, especially since he was returning to his home country soon. Moving to his barbaric homeland (which needs a name, I should get on that) was a huge struggle for her, but she recognized that she could do a lot of good at his side, and that's proven true, though people in upper-class society tend to side-eye her as a foreign barbarian.
He's an atheist, she's deeply religious. She prays for him, but doesn't push him. Her perspective forces him to admit that religion and intelligence aren't mutually exclusive, and to treat religion with a modicum of respect. She softens some of his rough edges, reminds him to treat people as people, though she is a bit blind to some of his personality flaws. They've been married for like twenty years and people are still astonished when they learn that Henry Brightley is married. I don't know how or why this marriage works, but I somehow know it does.
👒
Maybe you would, Clara thought bitterly. Mother seemed determined to keep Clara as ill as she herself was.