Thanks so much to @ellieyellu.bsky.social for hosting! This was a fun month of prompts. I don't have anything to promote yet so just give me a follow if you're interested in finding out more when it's ready. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · yesterday

I want to thank you all for some great conversations and connections this month. It's truly been wonderful to see everyone chatting and being excited for and supportive of one another 🧡 Let's keep the #SumLuv train going: drop your links, follow some new friends, catch up on some prompt replies 🧡

The religion is mostly just window dressing. Belief factors into one plot point, and when the tension gets really high my characters wrestle with the lack of divine intervention. But without the religion, most of the story would still exist. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 2d ago

#MythAugust 30 You've been chatting about your fictional gods & religions all month, but how much do these things play a role in the story you're trying to tell? Is it just cool worldbuilding flavor, or is it essential to the plot & characters? Maybe all of the above?

I really don't know. The WIP I've been discussing has a ways to go before it's finished. It's my debut novel, and I don't know if I'm going to try to query it or self pub. I'll figure it out eventually. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 2d ago

So...where's this going, #SumLuv ?? 🧡 What's next for you and your work? If you've been chatting about a WIP, what's the plan for it when it's finished? What's your next project? Are you waiting on any news? Will we stay like this forever? 🧡

My main inspiration was my setting. My setting is a chaparral biome just south of a desert, so the gods took the form of sun and rain. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 3d ago

#MythAugust 29 Wrapping up the month! Tell us about your inspirations. Were you influenced by any real world myths or religions when making your fantasy gods? Which ones, and how did they influence you? Feel free to talk about any other inspirations too, of course, not just religions & myths!

How do you feel about the third act breakup? Do you use it in your own work? #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 3d ago

Okay, #SumLuv -ers! Today is YOUR turn to ask a question 🧡 Our questions for the rest of the month are for promo and thinking about the future of our work -- what's something you wish you could have heard from your fellow romance writers this month? Something you want our thoughts on?

We recently got accused of using AI for music in our game and, while it's disheartening, it encouraged me to make a thread about making music for games, what it takes, and why it can be heartbreaking to be accused or even suspected of something we detest. 🧵Long thread follows:

I love using the gods in swear words! Some are "Altreyan's tears," "sands take you," and "luck of the Bastard." Some people also use tokens or amulets. Warriors might wear a stone amulet of a spear for Cabarros's blessing, and most homes have a set of antlers for Altreyan's. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 4d ago

#MythAugust 28 Today's question is about how the gods/spirits influence the lives of regular people - specifically, in mundane everyday kind of ways. Think of little things like idioms & swear words, clothing & accessories, small superstitious rituals, or locations everyone knows to avoid...

In romance, HEA is a genre requirement. I know I'd be miffed if I read a book shelved as romance and it didn't have one. I definitely use them. That said, they can vary significantly. The world can burn down around the couple, so long as they're together. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 4d ago

Do you have a favorite variation on the HEA? #SumLuv No need to spoil your own work unless you want to chat about it There are some who might say a HEA is essential to the romance genre. Do you agree?

The gods are invoked and asked for their favor. People make sacrifices to help gain that favor. Many rituals involve stones or flowers to signify Cabarros and Altreyan. But the gods never show up. Are they even real? #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 5d ago

#MythAugust 27 During major life milestones & rites of passage (e.g. birth, coming of age, marriage, death, etc), how do your gods/spirits play a role? Are they invoked during a ceremony? Is their imagery part of the ritual? Do they require a sacrifice? *Do they ever show up in person??* 👀

The story follows a pretty typical plot structure, with the action leading up to a peak. But there's also a journey out to the coast and back, so that rise to a peak is kind of a loop. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 5d ago

Be as creative or as straightforward with this as you like, #SumLuv 🧡 I'm partial to a good story arc myself, but 🧡the course of true love never did run smooth🧡

This moment happens just after Lir has told Faris to take his family and run away to keep them safe. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 6d ago

Sorry for the late post, #SumLuv 🧡 Later night than expected at work 🚑 But hit me with your most romantic line from your work. Out of context. Just go! 🧡🧡🧡

Becoming a worshiper is no more complicated than showing up to services and making a small sacrifice. As for priests, I haven't actually given it much thought. I'll have to figure that out. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 6d ago

#MythAugust 26 For someone who wants to follow one of your deities or become one of their priests, what sort of rites are required? Is there something like a baptism? Must they perform some difficult task? Do they receive any marks on their body or special clothes? Something else?

if there’s a point to fame it’s to do what dolly parton did in the world

Reunionalia actually occurs in the story. It celebrates the reunion of the Divine Spouses after Cabarros defeated Nikennis. It's a holiday for lovers, with large parties that usually end with sex. Marriages performed on Reunionalia are thought to be especially blessed. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · last wk.

#MythAugust 25 Today is the day to talk about holidays! I'd recommend just picking one, but you're free to talk about multiple if you want 😊 What's the meaning of the holiday? When does it take place? How did it start? How is it usually celebrated? What connection does it have to the god(s)?

I do use jealousy, but not between Lir and Faris. Rather, Archmage Morian is jealous of the noble class and makes every effort to remove nobles from positions of power. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · last wk.

Swoony and darkly possessive? Anxious and insecure? A healthy dose of something natural to work through? Not explored at all? If not, what do you explore instead? #SumLuv 🧡

I don't understand authors who aren't also voracious readers. What do you mean you don't read. How can you write a novel if you don't read them.

People pray and make sacrifices to gain the blessings of Cabarros and Altreyan. They may curse people with the sun or the luck of the Bastard, but it's more like how Christians might tell someone to go to hell, rather than a true ritual. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · last wk.

#MythAugust 24 For the followers of your god(s)/spirit(s), what sort of rituals do they do to invoke the protection or blessing of the deities? Prayers, songs, chants, sacrifices, etc? On the flipside, are there any rituals for calling a curse down upon someone they don't like? 👀

I just finished Death in the Spires by KJ Charles. My fave romantasy series is The Last Binding by Freya Marske. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · last wk.

#SumLuv 🧡

💎🪄🆚⚗️🪄➡️🤝🔪🔪🔪🤝➡️💏➡️🤝🫅➡️🧙🧙 #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · last wk.

In a snip, in a gif, in an elaborate metaphor? A series of way too many cryptic emojis? #SumLuv 🧡

In Sabsristin, the capital, there's a large, fairly new temple in the district now called Templefield, where most people go to worship. The old temple, which still hosts services for the royal family, is in Whitewalk. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · last wk.

#MythAugust 22 Tell us about your fictional places of worship. Where do your god(s)' followers usually gather for community, ceremonies, prayers, etc? Is there a formal place or informal? Public or private? Bonus: why do they gather in this place? What's the history & meaning behind it?

Well Lir and Faris are both gay and I'm not masc, so I don't think they'd be interested, but if they somehow were, then absolutely yes. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · last wk.

If they were datable, and available, would YOU date them? What qualities in them make that more or less likely to happen? #SumLuv 🧡

Hm, I haven't built a belief in the end of the world into my story, and I'm really not sure it's something I need to do. It wouldn't affect the story. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 2w ago

#MythAugust 21 Oooh it's apocalypse day! For those who follow your fantasy religion, how do they think the world will end? Will it be a big destructive spectacle, like Ragnarok or Armageddon? Or... more of a whimper? Perhaps a cycle? Maybe they don't believe in an ending but an evolution instead?

On the page, they do pretty much fall at the same time, but Faris also had a crush on Lir when they were kids that wasn't returned. Weirdly, most of the pining happens after they get together, because shortly after that they're separated. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 2w ago

and is there pining? please tell me there's pining 🙏 #SumLuv 🧡

I've mentioned this before, but people believe they're judged by Cabarros and Altreyan for entrance to the Stone City. If they are found wanting they are thrown to the sun, where Nikennis eats them. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 2w ago

#MythAugust 20 Most religions have some sort of belief about what happens to mortals after death. So what does your fantasy religion believe? Judgment? Reincarnation? Paradise? A mix? Or something else entirely? Bonus: How right are they, actually?

Cabarros values strength and courage, especially in battle. Altreyan values service to family and community. There's not really a concept of sin, but of course they don't prize theft, murder, etc. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 2w ago

#MythAugust 19 For the followers of your deity(ies)/spirit(s), what sorts of values do they try to uphold in their lives? What do they consider virtuous? On the flipside, what would get you labeled as a sinner or heretic? 👀

My friends would get along great with Lir and Faris. Many of them would probably hit on them. 😅 #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 2w ago

A silly one today about how your characters might behave in the "real" world, and how "real" people might react to them #SumLuv

The largest sect is the official one, whose members revere Cabarros and Altreyan. Worshipers of Nikennis are much fewer in number and tend to be hostile to the main sect. The Cult of the Bastard is both tiny and weird, although its followers prefer chaos to outright hostility. #MythAugust #WriteSky

🫜Prof Emily🫜@professoremily.bsky.social · 2w ago

#MythAugust 18 Today, tell us about different sects within your fictional religion, if there are any. What distinguishes them? Do they have different ideas about the gods/spirits, or about the doctrines? Do they ever fight with each other? What usually sets off those conflicts?

The romance part of it hasn't changed much, but basically everything else has. I ended up with lots of murders and a trial, which was def not the original plan. #SumLuv #WriteSky

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 2w ago

Did you always expect their story to play out the way it has? Is there anything about the story you had to change to accommodate this romantic relationship? #SumLuv

Damn I'm glad I use AO3 where I don't have to worry about this puritanical nonsense.

Briar 🦋🍂🐀@briarlily.bsky.social · 2w ago

Out of curiosity, went to check out the new wattpad guidelines, and not only are they banning pwp, they're cracking down on pretty much anything that doesn't have a moral lesson and a happy ending (and can't be too violent either) policies.wattpad.com/content/