Musings of a Messenger

I realized that since I finally remembered to share the last one, I should put them all into one post. I’m really proud of these! For details (and larger pictures) of each aesthetic, they can be found here: Adair, Blythe, Etri, Firedrake, Sol. (I also have a post where I cast each character and gave short info about them here.)

Plus, Camp NaNo! These five are my dorks, the characters who have been traveling with me since NaNo ‘13. I’m slowly but continuously recording their adventures in an lgbt+ comedic fantasy trilogy. For Camp this year I’m planning on continuing my rewrite of book 1 (Colorweaver). I’m calling this my second draft because I’ve only reached “the end” once, but several chapters have been rewritten several times. It’s always hit or miss if I stick with a project for a whole month- or even if I have the energy/time to stick with NaNo a whole month!- but if I decide to work on something else like short stories or book 2, it’ll be about these characters. Here’s to hoping life doesn’t get in the way so I get a lot accomplished this month! I’ve fallen out of the habit of writing regularly, so I could use the kick in the pants of a NaNo to get me moving again.

Here’s the summary for Colorweaver:

Adair Cerulean is a novice cartographer with the ability to make his drawings have the semblance of life. Like the other creators who possess magic and channel this through art, Adair is a Weaver. Adair is in the process of working on the project that, once complete, would advance him in rank when disaster strikes! His map is stolen and as its new owner seeks out more Weavers, Adair feels a tug from his creation to follow. This pull leads him to a carnival where he meets a healer standing guard over a stricken performer. It turns out that his thief is more than a mere robber and there’s more at stake then just a stolen map. Wacky antics ensue as Adair attempts to get his art back and stop the thief before he hurts anyone else.

I'm a good month behind with sharing the last of the five aesthetics for the main characters in my fantasy series. Whoops. Not surprisingly, it's Firedrake's. Poor Firedrake always has the worst luck. Or, rather, Dray always makes poor choices that result in bad things happening to them. This isn't to say that life hasn't kicked them around because it absolutely has. Firedrake just doesn't make things easier for themself. Seriously Dray, why is sarcasm, inconveniencing pranks, and your weak mind control magic your solution to everything?

Anyway, Firedrake is Blythe's sibling-by-choice; at one point the two of them shared a sword dancing act before Dray left the carnival troupe to perform on their own. Dray still does blade dancing, but tends to prefer fire. By "prefer" I really mean "is absolutely obsessed with." When Dray learns that they can summon/control fire, they're ecstatic! It's probably the only good thing that happens to Dray for a book and a half. There are those terrible decisions again! Firedrake's costume/stage persona is a dragon because Dray's more than a little obsessed with this particular mythological species.

The people I picked here aren't how I imagine Dray's physical appearance, but the makeup, costumes, and hair are very similar. Dray is agender and uses they pronouns.