Scribbled Fiction

Spare me your woodlands and your small villages. I got something better for you. Underwater Give me Little Mermaid aesthetic, give me people who have a city in a bubble on the bottom of the sea, give me trenches that are actually filled with the magic wielders that abandoned the world above, I'll take it all. In space Can we talk about how few and far between magic in space tropes are used? I get that people don't really want fantasy/sci-fi crossovers, but there is still so much potential aside from that! Ships(not spaceships, we're talking wood) that fly through the stars via fairy dust! Sirens in the center of black holes! Werewolves that have taken control of their situation by living on the moon and only going to the light side of it when they want to hunt! This can be done, people! The mountains There are ways to use the mountains that aren't your standard fantasy woodland settings. Give me a kingdom that only spans the mountain range and they have mortal enemies b...

So I'm really in love with magic systems. Not just the basic ones where hocus pocus you cast a spell and that's it. Those have no consequences, no rules, no structure.  No, no, no, my dear spellcasters, I am here for the really unique and complex magic systems, and when I find a good one I will literally seek out my sister and start ranting about it immediately. For a very long time. Hehe. Sorry Rachel. But really can we please talk about how gorgeous  some magic systems are??? I seriously love when someone puts in the time and the effort think  about their magic: what it is, how it works, and what can make it shine. *chef kiss* I love it. So today we talk about the greatest unique magic systems in books and film. Matthew Swift (Urban Sorcery) Oh mah word. I cannot stop talking about how awesome this series is. Because it is awesome!! One of the primary reasons I love it is the amazing magic system . The magic in these books has such intense urban fanta...

So, I love urban fantasy. I really  love urban fantasy. *finds a rooftop to scream from* URBAN FANTASY IS SO COOL!! And thus I read all the good urban fantasy books I can get my hands on. My latest most favoritest read is A Madness of Angels, or the Resurrection of Matthew Swift . Like most of my favorite books, it was written by a British author so alas, no one I have ever met has read it. But it's incredible!! Trench coats! Spray paint! Magic creatures in the phone lines! A super cool urban sorcerer taking down evil creations of magic and kicking butts! *happy sigh* I love it all. And because of this series, I have decided to write a list of inspiration for my fellow urban fantasy writers. Here is a list of everyday, ordinary things that obviously have some kind of magical qualities and should have magic qualities in urban fantasy books. Used ticket stubs 24-hour eateries Those shoes that are tied together and slung over the telephone wires Street art Myst...

Nothing can capture beauty and wonder quite like Studio Ghibli movies. If you've never seen one, get thee hence and watch one. I would highly recommend My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and Spirited Away(from which I stole the image for this particular post). Their director, Miyazaki, is a master of creating incredible,  beautiful worlds for his movies, whether the movie is set in the real world or one he created, and I never get over how lovely and unique they are. I would very much like to live in one of them, so if someone could get me a train ticket, that would be lovely. How to Create Beautiful Worlds (As Told by Studio Ghibli) 1. Not everything has to be explained. Miyazaki movies do the exact opposite of an infodump. They leave a lot of things unexplained. Why can't we eat the food of the ghosts? You don't know! Why is this promise bound by magic but not that one? He won't tell you! How does th...

This was supposed to have been posted on Tuesday, but I forgot!! Oh well!! (Just so you know, for the month of November I'm planning only to post on Tuesdays, no Thursday posts this month just to make writing easier on myself) But anyway!! Onward! Because today I get to talk about my NaNoWriMo project!!!!! It's too late to leave now. You've fallen under my spell, and now you must listen to this. >:-))) So we begin! The Title:   It took me significantly too long to title this project, especially after thinking about it for about a year and a half before actually starting to write it, but the title we're going with is Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas,  which I feel like is funny and kind of captures the tone I'm going for with the book. The Blurb: I worked very hard creating this blurb and it still doesn't feel right, but please appreciate it.  Two valuable artifacts have been stolen from different territories in the country of Aro, and now W...

Worldbuilding can be hard, yes, but it is my favorite, favorite  part of the writing process. I love building places I would want to live in, and yes, I would very much like to live in a lot of them, even though for some reason I make a lot of my characters' hometowns full of really mean people?? Like, what's with Rocky Hill? Why are these people so mean? Like, who even knows? But in doing my worldbuilidng, even I often forget some very important things. Like, where does the waste go? What do they do when one race breaks the other's rules? Does everyone in your world get along? I personally have a small fetish for giving cultures their own constellations. So let's get into world building questions. What are some common names in your world? What creatures in your world are considered pests? What animals are acceptable to eat? How often and how far do people travel? Is it so much that they have the geography memorized and don't need maps? What ...

Rachel of R's Loft  tagged me in this, and I am pumped to comply! Ironically, this sorta kinda lines up with what I wrote on Tuesday , which was a list of lesser-used mythical creatures you can use in place of overused ones. I must confess, I don't know who to tag at all because I don't know nearly as many people on the blogisphere as I should. Please tell me if you have any suggestions for me! Rules : 1. Include the graphic somewhere in the post and/or link back to Victoria. 2. Answer the questions on your blog. 3. Tag three or more fantasy lovers. The Questions 1.) What is your favorite mythical creature? Tough call. Probably dragons? I love the stabby flame-throwing aspect, but also when they are small and cute and curl around coffee cups. Dragons are  . 2.) When was the first time you heard of this beast? Um idk. Dragons are just kind of a thing you know about? I probably knew about them from Beowulf first since I was basically ra...

Worldbuilding might be my favorite part of the writing process. I always love to build places I might want to live in, and I always want to make my worlds like nothing I've ever seen before. And I notice that a lot anymore, the worlds in the books I read are becoming more European and American, and less like the older, more regal cultures like Africans, Native Americans, and Inuits. There are some gorgeous details in these people's lives! And they can definitely be used for our worlds. So let's get some ideas! The concept of "My homeland". Loyalty to one's country of origin is something that people feel less and less these days. Many people have immigrated to where they live, or their roots aren't deep enough for them to really feel a special connection to where they live. But in older cultures, people were and are extremely loyal to where they live. Sure, there might be some problems, but they would defend their land until their dying breath. ...