your-reluctant-optimist

Don't forget to reblog this post and let us know what your role is. It's going to be important later in!

And for Kit...

A path.

A map, even.

Quick!

Make a map for your characters to follow! What does their journey look like?

This can be a map of the land, a map that shows how they get from home to work, a map of a school, or a forest, or a world, or anything, really!

I cannot draw.

The, ah, metaphysical map that guides Kit from place to place is his psychic powers. He gets a bit of a steer on whether or not things are good ideas via his tarot deck, which rarely fucks him over but also has an interesting interpretation of 'good idea'.

Sometimes he also ignores the cards.

His visions are less 'road map he pulls over occasionally to consult' and more 'sat-nav which screams about turns that, as far as Kit can tell, do not exist, gives him directions in anything but chronological order, and sometimes just screeches incoherently before refusing to speak at all for several hours'.

Reblog this story and share a little bit about one of the locations in your current wip!

This can be somewhere the characters go, where they're trying to get, a forest, a mountain, a town or village, a favorite coffee shop or an altar! Any kind of location will do!

The first room you'll encounter, coming through the front door, is sort of multi-purpose. First and foremost, it houses Georgie's computer setup, which is in some state of powered-up twenty-four seven. There's enough space to sit (on the floor, obviously), and a couple of cluttery bits strewn around the room. It has the entrance to the small kitchen on the left, and the entrance to the main training room in the middle.

The training room is the heart of the home. Georgie's and Kit's bedrooms, plus the armoury and the bathroom branch off this room. The floor is mostly padded, and full floor-to-ceiling with weapons (they have some great custom storage solutions). Kit, especially, spends a lot of time in there.

Kit's bedroom is mostly functional and sort of Spartan. The top drawer of his bedside table contains only knives, for God's sake. It's got his bed, his wardrobe, and his favourite weapons. He reads tarot on the bed, because why buy a table?

Georgie's room is equally bare, because they pretty much just use it for sleeping. If they don't fall asleep in front of their computer. It's basically just a waystation to get changed, medicate, and take naps as necessary.

Happy Summerfest!

There are lots of reasons why it was practical for Kit to take on an apprentice, and why it should be Alex. Georgie walks him through those fairly early on and, though he protests, he gets it. But, while he trains Alex and does all of the things he's supposed to do, he's still not sold on the idea. He still thinks he can save the world on his own, and would rather protect Alex from what could happen to him in the field (despite taking the dangers and realities of the job extremely seriously during his training).

True to form, the moment at which Alex becomes indispensable to him is when Kit himself is injured and unable to carry out his duties. Unbeknownst to him, Georgie authorises Alex's first 'solo' hunt during this period (with Georgie not physically present but, of course, only a phone call away). When Kit finds out, he's angry, but also... relieved? It's a real watershed moment for him having to let go of the reins a little and treat Alex as a capable fighter in his own right, even if it'll take him a long time to reach Kit's exact skill level and understanding of the profession's intricacies.

The fact is, Kit and Georgie are terribly overstretched. Georgie could go out into the field if needed, but Kit would rather limp himself out there, injury and all, than permit them to place themselves at risk without at least having Kit as backup.

There is such a fantastic tension in that moment. Georgie secretly pulling the trigger on Alex’s first solo hunt while Kit is benched is such a brilliant move, since it forces Kit into a corner where he has to witness Alex’s capability without his own overprotective instinct sabotaging the lesson.

That mix of anger and quiet, terrifying relief when he realizes Alex actually pulled it off? Wonderful character work.

Kit leaning on practical logistics and overstretched workloads because it’s so much safer than admitting the emotional weight of what Alex actually means to him is the exact kind of delicious psychological avoidance I love to see.

Georgie's not looking for a fight by sending Alex out, but they are pragmatic. He's objectively a perfectly fine choice. And if Kit ends up slackening his death-grip on Alex's collar as a result, all to the good.

Fantasy Worlds Collide sounds like such an interesting project! What inspired you to tie multiple worlds and stories together like that? How do you keep them all straight in your mind?

Hi! Thank you so much for dropping by for Writeblr Summerfest! I'm always thrilled to talk about Fantasy Worlds Collide, especially since its journey has been such a massive part of my creative life for nearly three decades.

To answer your first question about inspiration. The decision to tie multiple worlds together wasn't actually part of the original grand master plan. It happened organically as a reflection of my own evolution as a writer, a researcher, and a person.

The project originally began as a single, quiet, focused story: a straightforward Final Fantasy VII fanfiction centered on an original human Shinra scientist named Bianca Moore. At the time, there were no cosmic dimensions, no complex pantheons, and no multiversal hierarchies. It was simply a ground-level human lens witnessing Sephiroth’s descent into madness and tragic fall.

Over the years, my creative goals shifted. I entered a commercial phase where I set out to write original fiction for self-publishing. During that time, I branched off into high-stakes urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I spent years immersing myself in deep theological research, classical mythologies, Dante's Inferno, and intricate angelic and demonic lore. This period expanded my roster of characters—like Kayla—and fundamentally reshaped how I viewed Bianca's thematic arc.

It's so interesting when a project takes a different form than you originally intended through its own organic growth. Always feels like it's fledging and taking on a life of its own :)

Sorry to hear about whatever happened that made you have to eliminate stress from your life, but also happy to hear it brought you a project that you love. 'Through adversity and with great love' has always struck me as an excellent way to write, despite the... well, the adversity.

That phrase, "Through adversity and with great love," honestly hits the nail right on the head. Pivoting away from commercial pressure was the best thing I ever did for my writing. It completely brought the joy back into the process for me, too.

And please don't feel bad about the Ctrl+F method! Truthfully, before Scrivener forced me into standardizing my madness, Ctrl+F in a 200-page document was my primary research tool.

We’ve all been in the trenches squinting at a search bar trying to remember what color we said an obscure side character's eyes were three chapters ago. Whatever keeps the creative momentum going is a valid system in my book.

Well, we're sure going to try!

Okay. Take a deep breath. Reblog this post and share your goal for Summerfest. Are you looking to find new writeblrs to follow? Make friends? Have an excuse to share more about your own characters and world? Is this a writing practice for you? Are you here to find the minkies or get one of our other cool upcoming prizes?

Are you worldbuilding? Developing a story? Trying to edit or getting ready to publish? Looking to do something other than writing, like the moodboards or the games?

Is this your first time here? Your fourth? Your fifth?

'They're fucking with us again,' he says grimly, brushing raindrops off his wrist like they might be poisoned. For all we know, they could be.

'Maybe we should stop.'

'Maybe that's what they want.'

I reach across and turn the radio off, since it's begun to burble with a peculiar spitting static. In the resulting hush, the rain and the drone of the coming storm seem all the louder.

'You're looking for a fight today, aren't you?'

I palm a blade from the pocket of my jeans, flipping it between my fingers, because it's not like I'm not on edge, just as much as him. I'd call Georgie for advice if I didn't know without even pulling out my mobile that I won't have so much as a bar of signal- and if we'd told them more than the bare bones about our magical predicament.

The sky's swirling silver now- not grey, silver, with a metallic sheen like stippled steel or fish-scales. Even the raindrops seem to reverberate and glitter threateningly. I half-expect them to gather into mist and swallow up the car.

Alex's jaw is as taut as a bowstring. I've stopped playing with my knife, and started holding it ready to throw at the slightest provocation. He's still showing no signs of pulling over, but I wouldn't put it past them to force the issue.

The tarmac itself seems to tremor, to bubble like someone's boiling coffee beneath the surface. The storm's turned so seismic that the trees at the side of the road are beginning to slough into many-faceted nothingness. I spare a thought for any deer lingering too close to the crash barrier, then turn my mind back to the radio.

What does your world look like in this strange stormy shade?

Make a moodboard for your wip themed around this color!

How is your adventure going?

Fantasy Worlds Collide sounds like such an interesting project! What inspired you to tie multiple worlds and stories together like that? How do you keep them all straight in your mind?

Hi! Thank you so much for dropping by for Writeblr Summerfest! I'm always thrilled to talk about Fantasy Worlds Collide, especially since its journey has been such a massive part of my creative life for nearly three decades.

To answer your first question about inspiration. The decision to tie multiple worlds together wasn't actually part of the original grand master plan. It happened organically as a reflection of my own evolution as a writer, a researcher, and a person.

The project originally began as a single, quiet, focused story: a straightforward Final Fantasy VII fanfiction centered on an original human Shinra scientist named Bianca Moore. At the time, there were no cosmic dimensions, no complex pantheons, and no multiversal hierarchies. It was simply a ground-level human lens witnessing Sephiroth’s descent into madness and tragic fall.

Over the years, my creative goals shifted. I entered a commercial phase where I set out to write original fiction for self-publishing. During that time, I branched off into high-stakes urban fantasy and paranormal romance. I spent years immersing myself in deep theological research, classical mythologies, Dante's Inferno, and intricate angelic and demonic lore. This period expanded my roster of characters—like Kayla—and fundamentally reshaped how I viewed Bianca's thematic arc.

It's so interesting when a project takes a different form than you originally intended through its own organic growth. Always feels like it's fledging and taking on a life of its own :)

Sorry to hear about whatever happened that made you have to eliminate stress from your life, but also happy to hear it brought you a project that you love. 'Through adversity and with great love' has always struck me as an excellent way to write, despite the... well, the adversity.

All right, I'll try to keep it short: