Happy WBW!

Happy WBW!

💀 - How do people in your world think about the dead after their passing? Do they celebrate them, mourn, or honour them in some way, or are they gone and not mentioned?

🏛️ - Does your world have old buildings? Ruins?

Happy WBW!!! Thank you so much for the ask, @pluttskutt! I'll answer this one for my WIPs Enchanted Illusions and Realms of Loss!

💀 - How do people in your world think about the dead after their passing? Do they celebrate them, mourn, or honour them in some way, or are they gone and not mentioned?

IN ENCHANTED ILLUSIONS:

The treatment of the dead depends/varies on which of the many cultures present in Ansburke we're talking about (though the city's cultural landscape is divided/shared mostly between humans and Myths - magical beings - there are many cultures within those groups, and many different kinds of Myths, from faeries to vampires and even banshees).

The most predominant ways people think about/treat the dead in the city of Ansburke are very similar to the way people viewed/treated the dead in the 1800s, and in some aspects, even in the modern day. There are funerals and mourning rites (which, again, vary according to which fictional human or Myth culture the person hails from), as well as some celebrations - during which the deceased's loved ones may or may not invoke a deity/god to protect the spirit of the who died while on their way to the afterlife.

Most people are buried in graveyards or crypts - much like the ones we know today - though some prefer to be cremated and put into urns. In Ansburke, most common funeral choices and rites are similar to those commonly associated with the actual IRL Victorian period, especially regarding the "grieving etiquette" and rules, but there are some very unique alternatives too.

For example, in this world, Selkies and Kelpies return their dead loved ones to the sea - since they themselves are born in the sea, respecting the cycle of life is crucial for their spirits to properly pass on and it is sacred to their kind. Selkies and Kelpies believe that when the deceased person's soul reaches the open sea again that spirit may be reborn in the next 100 or so years.

Vampires - or at least those who are born vampires, not turned - consider death an unfathomable tragedy (since they are supposed to live forever, being killed certainly seems unnatural to them), and often mourn their dead loved ones for centuries or even eternity. They guard their loved one's final resting ground viciously and do not take kindly to uninvited guests trespassing on their crypts, even if by accident. To vampires, the death of one of their kind is a crime that must never be forgiven.

Faeries/Fey Folk hold huge parties/celebrations in memory of the deceased, during the days and even weeks after the funeral. In their ceremonies, they typically light an enchanted kind of lantern that can burn bright for weeks, lighting the sky of the vicinities like multicolored stars.

As in IRL, most people in Ansburke continue honoring their dead and keeping that person's memory alive in special ways that mean something to them.

In the main cast, for example, Cailean Telkerly, a half-selkie, collects and fixes broken pocket watches as a sort of remembrance for his dead older brother, who really loved his job as a clockmaker's apprentice. Another example is Marcus Kallihan, who lights a special candle every year on his deceased parents' wedding anniversary.

IN REALMS OF LOSS -

Now this is where things get tricky to explain, but here we go. In the world of Realms of Loss, most of the continent has been ravaged by a curse that even the Far Reach's wall can't keep at bay. So, a common - and very much warranted - fear amongst the population is that the dead won't quite stay dead or may become easy vessels for the corruption to consume/dominate. Thus, the most common funeral rite is creating the deceased on a funeral pyre (sometimes just a pyre, other times a boat, much like a Viking's funeral), to prevent the curse from adhering to the now-dead body. Details regarding the mourning period, size of the pyre or even duration of the ceremony depends on the person's social class - peasants may have a simple funeral pyre with materials they can acquire from the woods or afford to buy, while royalty has entire ceremonies and celebrations tied to their funeral and usually have tremendously large pyres. After the death of the King or Queen, it is tradition for the entire kingdom to go into a mourning period for around two weeks, and there are laws to ensure this time is honored.

When it comes to it, however, on the kingdoms of Avillore or Sarythea, no matter the person's status, accomplishments, or power, they all become ash in the end - as no one wants to become a soulless husk wandering the Lost Lands for eternity.

Another important aspect - since the Celestial Courts have such a prominent role in the kingdom's daily existence and are worshipped far and wide, someone might request a blessing from a specific Celestial their deceased loved one worshipped in life. And on some special rare occasions, the Celestial might actually give their blessing to the person.

🏛️ - Does your world have old buildings? Ruins?

Both the worlds of Realms of Loss and Enchanted Illusions have plenty of ruins (especially in Realms of Loss, where much of the continent's former glory has been worn down by time and war), or at least buildings that fell into disuse/abandonment. Many of those ruins play some kind of role in the story or at least are explored by the Main Characters in some way - for example, in Enchanted Illusions, Thaddeus found an abandoned fortress in the catacombs of Ansburke and refurbished it to be the headquarters of his operation.

M+S Ask Games: Food

Reblog this if you'd like your followers to send you a numbered question for you to answer! Make sure you send an ask to whoever you reblog this from.

—1— What meal is most nostalgic to your character?

—2— What meal is your character best at cooking?

—3— What fruit is your character’s favorite?

—4— Does your character eat meat?

—5— Does your character enjoy cooking?

—6— Who taught your character to cook?

—7— Is your character good at following recipes?

—8— What food does your character eat most often?

—9— Does your character like vegetables?

—10— What is your character’s favorite meal?

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by @kaylinalexanderbooks, (here)! Thanks for the tag!

I think this is the time I start posting about this new fantasy WIP, so here it goes! From the first chapter of my newest WIP, Of Starlight and Beasts

"Who are you?" Corah asked, peering from behind the tree - tendrils of bright light surrounded the young man, magic like none she'd seen before. But as his eyes met her, he seemed more confused and scared than she was. "Honestly, I'm not sure."

Tagging (gently): @lassiesandiego, @unstablewifiaccess, @tabswrites, @little-peril-stories, @clairelsonao3, @writernopal, @talesofsorrowandofruin and OPEN TAG

When you finally get to the scene you’ve been waiting to write

HEY WRITER

YOU!

YES YOU!

Unclench your jaw. Fix your posture. Relax your shoulders. Stop frowning. Drink some water. Take a deep breath.

You got this.

I'm proud of you.