There and Back Again (Part 3): Ghosts, Eerie Lullabies, More Magic and Tess's Powers.

It would be good to read part one, and part two before continuing reading this post...

In Tolkien's story, it is quite clear that the elves are leaving of their own accord, but in my mine, the situation is different, because it is scarily unknown why the elves and fairies have suddenly vanished. There are clues here and there, but not much informations surrounding it. The elves are certainty not speaking about it, and the fairies run away before you can ask them. 

Eerie Lullabies 

But it occurred to me when writing that it would be a scary thing from the perspective of the elves and fairies. And perhaps from the point of view of their children. When something scary happens around children, they are likely to make a song about it. After all, Ring Around the Rosie may have come from the black death, and yet we still sing it today, forgetting the background behind it. 

After a singer, Ashley Serena, posted this Russian Lullaby (which does sometimes have a different ending to it, depending on what version you hear), I felt as if it would be neat to create a haunting song for my own world: 

Bayu Bayushki (Russian Wolf Lullaby) 

performed by Ashley Serena

You can also listen to it here

I thought this was interesting because this version of the lullaby has an eerie ending when other versions do not. Since something in the world like an object or creature must be connected to the incidents, either in fact or because of a misinterpretation for the poor elf or fairy children who have little to no idea what is going on to make a song about it. They may have heard bits and pieces of information that adults have said by accident, which then becomes an eerie song.

And I also found that the song itself, "Bayu Bayuski" ties into another part of the plot, even though I intend to write my own eerie song for it. Since one of my characters is now a shepherd, and shepherds are a few of the people who've noticed the strange happenings (and blame it on wolves), as I stated in the first draft: 

There had been a lot of unexplained events, and one of them (the sheep disappearing) is misinterpreted as related to wolves. 

In the first draft however I didn't bring these events to the scary level that they could have. I merely mentioned them once and never brought them up again after that. But, I feel I want to create some fear for the readers and for the characters in the story, and mystery to what is happening with the disappearance of the elves and fairies.

Ghosts 

Ghosts tie into the gothic elements of the story that I have added. I considered all the places that have been affected in my story, and I thought it would be really neat if there were certain ghost stories told by different people in each area. Even with all the fearful things that are happening, I 

want to add some light heartedness to the story, as well as actually adding ghosts into the story, but that will be talked about later. 

(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost#/media/File:Brown_lady.jpg) 

Since Tess will be traveling (even if she didn't decide of her own accord to go to the places that she is traveling to), it would be interesting if there were a ghost story for every part of the world (like there is a haunted house, tree, bridge, lake, etc). Stories could be traded around to explain why they were haunted. 

And besides there being the element of ghost stories (even if none of the ghosts come out in the places that are mentioned), I thought it might be neat if there were some actual ghosts, who perhaps act as an oracle to the plot-line or even a guide. I think I will have them appear and disappear at will, but not have it happen smack in the middle of a weird point in the story as I did with this scene in the first draft... 

The problem with the first draft was that it happened and then no one seemed to be worried about what was going on at all. A friend of mine mentioned that it felt like Lida just shrugged it off and somehow forgot about it, without being concerned about her father in the slightest. And I also felt upon looking back at it that when I first wrote it I didn't really think too much about what happened to Mr. Short. I knew it was magical, but didn't consider an oracle like possession or ghostly one as a possibility of what it could be. So that is certainly a possibility of what it might be when I rewrite that scene. 

Since paranormal things that appear to be bad are happening, I think it would be neat if something paranormal happened that actually helped the main characters as well.

(Image from wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost#/media/File:Banquo.jpg) 

And since there may actually be psychic main characters (more about that later), I think that it would be a neat idea to use these powers. And use the opportunity to have my Fantasy questers have a séance, or to even introduce a ghost side character.

Tess's Magic (and other magic in the world)  

This post will not only talk about Tess's powers but also about the other magic that resides in the world. I talked about Inny's powers in part two, which are more witch-like, but Tess's powers are different and more elven if anything. Though my inspiration was Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, I will be giving my elves different powers than the powers J.R.R Tolkien's elves have. In terms of magic I noticed that the elves in Lord of The Rings did have some abilities, Galadriel is a little bit of a mind-reader (sort of psychic in some sense) and has some light related powers. Tauriel uses healing magic by chanting; however, I feel I want my elves' magic to be more involved, and perhaps more nature-like, perhaps druid-like, and have some elves use their powers more than Tolkien's elves would. I remember that in a Dungeons and Dragon campaign the elf druids and bards had much more magic than the elves in Lord of the Rings, which is something I am aiming for in my Fantasy world. And I've noticed that the powers are used more in Dungeons and Dragons than in Lord of the Rings, and the powers often tend to be more complex. This is something I enjoy, as well as the fact that the bard's music (in D & D) can actually do something magical or that they can inspire the other players with their music. 

So, I want Tess's magic to be somewhat powerful (she is half elf, so it can't be as powerful as a full elves' magic), but not in the way that Galadriel's or Tauriel's is. And I want it to have some musical and non-musical elements to it, and be a lot more like elves' magic in Dungeons and Dragons than in Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit. 

There is also a group of sorceresses that come together when they are most needed. (Ariel is part of that group.) Otherwise the members are solitary sorceresses, whose goal is to make the world a safe place by using their powers to frighten off anything that may cause a threat to the world. They also are the ones people turn to in times of need. But mostly they turn to a single sorceress and not the whole group. The group is very much against witches since most witches of the world tend to perform dark magic. They may have mixed feelings about Inny's using witch's magic even for good  since there has never been a case besides her where someone used witch's magic in that way. 

As a side note, I see this as a theme song for the group: 

Enchanters performed by Ashley Serena & Ignis

You can also listen to it here

Things that the group of sorceresses supports... 

Good Magic 

(Which includes fairies' magic, elves' magic, magic performed by sorcerers & sorceresses, etc.) 

Shapeshifting 

(Shapeshifting has rarely been used in a bad way, except when you turn someone into an animal against their will, but the group is all for shapeshifting).  

Potions

 (On and off, it really depends on the type of potion you make) 

Psychics 

(Some of the sorceresses in the group have psychic abilities, so it would be very difficult to be against that (it would also be very hypocritical), and besides, it has been useful.)

Things that the group of sorceresses is against: 

Evil magic 

(Witch magic. They are unaware that someone has used it for good, and that seemingly

 evil magic can be turned good or at least gray magic). 

Necromancy 

(There is a some moral issue here, which is rather controversial (in Tess's world) about whether or not it is alright to raise the dead and make them alive again. (Several philosophers have debated it, but they came to no good conclusion)) 

Monsters 

(Ogres and trolls aren't exactly considered to be people by this group. From what they see ogres 

and trolls seem to have a very animal like reaction to anything and therefore don't deserve the respect that elves or fairies would get.) 

Things the group has not yet decided on... 

Intermarriage between species 

(Even if Ariel supports it, the rest of the group isn't sure what to think of it). 

And there are few other things they haven't decided upon, I just don't know which ones they are yet. 

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What are some of your favorite ghost stories? Do you have a favorite eerie lullaby/song you enjoy listening to (for the enjoyment of the eeriness)? 
-Quinley

P.S. Some upcoming posts in the near future are a rewrite of a story I posted in 2017 (set in the same world as this novel), and a monologue from Romeo and Juliet spoken by Romeo. (Though I don't know when exactly I will post the monologue, since it still needs to be filmed), but be sure to keep your eyes open for those.

There and Back Again: My Progress of Editing Tess Short (Book One)

(You may want to read this blog post before continuing reading this one.) 

Hello everyone,

Since I recently finished writing Tess Short (Book one) which is the book's title for now, until I come up with a better title. I thought I should make a blog post about it so that I can keep track of my editing process...

World building within editing 

Since Tess Short (book one) was one of my first novels, first fantasy ones to be exact. I didn't know that much about world building or what religions fantasy worlds have and stuff like that.

When I looked back at it I realized I didn't know much about the way the world worked. (Other than it being a world that was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth.) So I decided I would focus a little on the bits of religion that were left out of it...
Like how a (religious) wedding for an elf would go, and how a (religious) wedding for a hobbit would go. And even how weird it would be if a hobbit did a wedding the elf way or even how weird it would be if an elf did a wedding the hobbit way.

The reason I bring this up, is because one of the controversies in Tess's world is why on earth would a hobbit and an elf get married? And are they really able to have children? (The answer is yes, since Tess was born, but it is still a hot topic in her world.)

I thought that I should focus slightly on the way of which Mr. Short and Princess Gletta got married, and how the elves and hobbits reacted to it. (But mostly the hobbits since they are the ones who show up in the prologue.) And why it is so outlandish to have happen in that world. And also how people react to it socially. Some of the questions I am turning around in my head because of this are... Are they treated like an lower class because of the marriage? How well are Tess (and her siblings) treated because of it? Is there any possibility that other elves and hobbits could have married before Gletta and Mr. Short? (If so, are theirs undocumented, and are Mr. Short's and Gletta's marriage the only case of a documented marriage between an elf and a hobbit?)

One thing I am also trying to do is make the world seem a little less like Middle Earth. Though I do want the readers now and then to think that is somewhat like it in ways. But I don't want them to be thinking "oh wow, that sounds exactly like how things work in Middle Earth." This is why through the editing I am going to be expanding both the religion, the magic system, and the world in the rewrite. I also slightly want to use magic more in the story than I did in the first draft.

And one somewhat magical element I have been trying to explore is why names have power. It is something that has shown up in the story that I didn't exactly know the answer to. But I hope to figure out the answer when I rewrite. It seems to be along the lines of why Hades's name (from Greek mythology) was not talked about among the ancient Greeks. In fear that he would take them to the underworld early. But other than that I am not exactly sure what the reason is for elves' names having power, yet.


Fixing the dialogue 


 One problem (which is also going to be fixed through rewriting) is having the character spout words like...

This I found to be a problem, since it sounded way to similar to the way we speak in our world. And not in the slightest old fashioned (as I intended it to feel.) I feel as if when I was writing the first draft I forgot that I didn't want the characters to sound like how a child or an adult from our world would talk. I also want to fix the dialogue and pacing in general. 

When looking back at this dialogue, it felt a little flat... 

And it just happened so quickly in the first draft. Out of nowhere Tess is asked to go on an adventure, and I didn't even give the readers enough time to get to know her before the adventure began. There were little weird things here and there like Tess not knowing her own age and somehow thinking one hundred years had past when so little had (I think it was because I didn't know Tess's age when I was first writing it, but, I found a way to fix it within the storyline now.)  

More character development 

Tess was a developed character, but everyone else in the story I felt as if I didn't take that much time to develop... 

One character I have been exploring is Gletta Short (formerly known as Princess Gletta.) Since she in the first draft was a (somewhat) peaceful character. And now since I know her it turns out that she is in on a daily lookout for monsters (since this is what she is used to doing.) Though she is calm sometimes especially when around her husband or children, but is much more used to being on the lookout at all times. Due to learning this information, I figured out what her day job was.
Which turned out to be a blacksmith, the particular kind of blacksmith that she is, is one that specializes in making weapons. Which is appropriate to her character since she is a fighter.

But yet, I can imagine despite all her active fighting and everything that she is used to doing, I can imagine her singing a lullaby that sounds like this to her children:

                                 Sleepsong by secret garden 

You can also listen to it here

(Though the term "angels" that is used in the song would be replaced with a spirit-like figure that is protective in the elven religion.)

Because of how useful this development was, I think I need to focus more on each member of Tess's group...

(an old drawing I found of each the members from left to right, Silena, Thistle, Tess, Robin, Inny) 

And figure out what their motivations are, since I haven't fully figured that out. 

I know what Tess's motivation is, but I don't know what everyone else's fully is. 

I also want to know why Robin wanted Tess to go on the adventure in the first place, why did he choose her? Also, did he think the adventure was going to turn out of the way that it did? These are questions right now, that I haven't figured out the answer to. But I assume I will once I start developing each of their characters. 

So I hoped you enjoyed the look at my editing process so far... 

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How does your editing usually go? What's your favorite thing to work on when editing? (Even if editing is far from enjoyable.) 

-Quinley