Tag: fairy tales

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enby-phoenix asked: Have Bowman and Jacob introduced each other to very many foods? What are the weirdest things they’ve convinced each other to eat? (besides pine sap, we know that one.) What is each’s favorite food from the other’s culture?

( Pine Sap Incident )

Sure! They’ve traded all kinds of things. Jacob tries to bring a different (vegetarian) food to the forest every time he visits to see what Bowman and the other sprites think of it. Usually fruits or vegetables that they can’t find in Wellwood, but occasionally he brings candy or pastries.

I think Bowman would be most intrigued by cereal, out of all these things, especially the more colorful stuff. Can you imagine him with a fruit loop?

Jacob has tried whatever sprite foods they’ve offered him, and has had better luck since his pine sap mishap. They have some of their own baked delicacies, including sticky buns wrapped in mint leaves, fruit tarts, and a little thing that’s like a cannoli but with little roots and honey instead of cheese filling.

Jacob likes the mintcakes. They’re very striking and the easiest for him to actually get all the flavors.

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 lycaclientt asked: Is Jacob closeted at home? I’m curious about this bc in my own experience, being accepted as LGBT is one thing but if you’re on the aro/ace spectrums people can be plain weird about it. Does he ever talk about it with Bowman?

It’s an interesting situation for Jacob, to be sure!

His mom is … somewhat aware that things are a bit different with Jacob. The boy went on one date in his life and ended it as friends with the girl. They still chat sometimes, but it’s obvious he’s not interested in her in that way. He also doesn’t seem to be hiding any interest in guys, and he’s a terrible liar. Mariana can sort of tell, even if he hasn’t come out and told her. She’s ready whenever he figures out what label he’d like to use.

His extended family is a bit trickier, and the reason Jacob tends to just not talk about it. Many of them expect him to marry a nice Greek girl and continue the family line. It’s tradition and all.

Bowman is a decent sounding board for stuff like this. As much as he likes to gripe about human things, he lets Jacob vent about all kinds of things if he needs to. He’s also not super likely to judge; after all, most sprites are a bit demisexual anyway. 

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Anonymous Asked: How would things have gone if Lord Scar or Lord Cerul had been the first sprite to meet/encounter Jacob?

What an interesting thing to think about!

If it was Scar meeting Jacob first, he’d have several of his knights waiting out of sight in the trees. At the first signal from him, they’d be ready to swarm a mischievous giant with their little swords. He would learn very quickly not to grab at sprites! And he’d probably be scolded quite soundly into listening. Scar takes no nonsense.

Cerul might still get grabbed, if we’re honest. Jacob can be grabby at first. However, instead of snarking up a storm at him, Cerul would end up taking a much calmer, more diplomatic approach. He would be able to tell that Jacob means no harm with his actions, giant or not. He would explain a bit about why that’s not a good way to make a first impression, how dangerous it can be if he makes a move too hastily, and request that he not do that again. Jacob is respectful enough that he’d probably listen.

Contact me with your questions here!

Ask Game

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Over on my tumblr, I did a small ask game in which people could send in questions directly to my characters and I would answer in the character’s voice. I decided to compile what I have so far into one post over here.

@therealbrigeedarocks Asked: Hey Oscar, we know you’re pretty good at sewing but are there any other hobbies you’d like to try?

“W-well, I really like it when people watch the, um, there’s cooking shows on TV sometimes, and someday, if I could, I would wanna try to cook something all by myself. Not, um, not the ones that … some of ‘em are kinda stressful ‘cause they’re trying to win a prize, and they’re not as fun to watch…”

Anonymous asked: For Bowman: do sprites know what airplanes are? Have they seen them fly over the forest?

“We never knew what the big white birds were until Jacob told me one time. We just knew sometimes they were loud and could pull the clouds around, and that is just ridiculous and it makes way more sense that it’s humans’ fault.

Jacob also told me the fairy lights that fly so high up in the middle of the night are ‘air planes’, too, but I don’t think that’s right.”

Anonymous asked: For my BOY Jacob: do you ever just lie to bowman about random stuff about human society just because you know he can’t prove you wrong. Like “hey, you know humans have cloud factories that make and produce clouds all the time, right?” And just watch as Bowman tries to rationalize what you said.

“Oh man, all I can think of is him finding out. I’m not great at lying but like, Bowman asks a lot of questions about everything and sometimes I don’t actually know the answer. So I’ve made some stuff up sometimes. Honestly I have no idea what he will be skeptical about and what he’ll just accept, y’know? Like he knows what airplanes are now but doesn’t believe me that the lights moving in the sky at night are also airplanes.”

Anonymous asked: For the ask game! Question for Bowman and Rischa: have you ever heard Jacob casually say something fatalistic, like “kill me now” or “this makes me wanna jump off a cliff”? Because this is so casual with humans, and if one of my friends says something like this, my typical answer is “same”.

Rischa: “Wh-what? That sounds awful! Why would someone say something like that?”

Bowman: “Don’t worry, Birdie, it’s like sarcasm. I think. Some kinda human thing. Pretty sure I’ve heard him say something like ‘I guess I’ll die’. But usually he saves his jokes to try to tease me and he thinks he’s so funny when he does.”

Anonymous asked: Yo, Lord Scar Sir, have you ever had to scold Jacob for just teenage shenanigans? What’s that like?

“Ha. That giant is better behaved than some of the sprites around here, if I’m honest. I don’t have to say much if he’s wandering too close to somewhere he shouldn’t.

Some in the village are wondering if he’ll lend some of that mildness to the Leafwing boy, but I’m not holding my breath.”

Anonymous asked: Hey, Bowman, since there are Wellwood sprites who are still a bit distrustful of your giant, have you ever got into an argument/fight with someone because they called Jacob a monster or something?

“Most of us aren’t fighters in Wellwood, but some of the parents with nestlings that always want to see Jacob … they’ve scolded me a lot. As if I’m somehow the reason their nestlings are so curious about the giant that visits the village sometimes. Usually I have to fly out of the village to get away from them when they’re on that nonsense. I can’t control a whole giant any more than I can control some people being afraid of him.”

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Anon asked: Are there still a few sprites in wellwood unwilling to trust Jacob or just generally kinda freaked out by him still?

There definitely are! He’s a giant, even among humans, and to the wood sprites that’s an intimidating prospect. Though most of them trust that he is a protector for the village, it can be hard to get past that size. To them, four inches tall is pretty big. Jacob is seventy seven inches tall.

He tries his best to be respectful and give the home trees some distance when he visits. The sprites that don’t come out of their homes to see what he’s up to are the ones he knows haven’t completely warmed up to him yet.

Fairy Tales Lore Bits #9

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Wraith sprite quills can break if put under stress. They usually grow back eventually, but in the meantime it may affect some of their abilities, especially if more than one quill breaks. There aren’t too many nerves out near the tips, so it isn’t necessarily a painful injury to bear, but they can feel the gaps and greater difficulty with mental signals. For a people quite used to sharing surface thoughts with their community, it can get frustrating very fast.

Did you Know?

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In Bowman of Wellwood, Jacob Andris was originally going to be a side character. Instead of the chill giant becoming Bowman Leafwing’s best friend among all humans, that honor was going to fall to Bobby Loran.

That’s right, Bobby, who readers may know is not a gentle or calm person at all, was going to be the human that helped Bowman learn how to accept people so vastly different from himself. Then, as the story progressed and I played with different approaches, the truth became clear. Bobby and Bowman will never get along, while Jacob is the perfect personality to ground out the sprite’s wild, sassy nature.

Fairy Tales Lore Bits #8

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Shadow sprites are a bit different from their cousins. Rather than having to open up a connection to their Spirit and voice a Prayer for magic to use, they are always connected to the Night Spirit. The Lady of Secrets grants Her children a few basic abilities that they can tap into at any time, but this ease comes at a price.

Direct sunlight will drive Her back, and it is painful for the sprite caught in it. Other forms of light are a bit itchy, but don’t have the same symbolic effect on them. As the Spirit retreats from sunlight, so does the magic the sprite needs to survive in the shadows. They can be blinded and their skin can be permanently lightened in places that were illuminated. Healing takes a while, though the Spirit will eventually reconnect if the sprite survives.

Fairy Tales Lore Bits #7

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Air sprites are children of the Sky Spirit, the Lady of Freedom. She emphasizes creativity and out of the box thinking in all endeavors, even the magic She provides to the sprites. Prayers to the Sky Spirit usually have wildly varying results, with only a few of them being consistent in any way.

In most cases, a sprite can try to Pray for improved luck, or influence a certain outcome of events. They can also Pray for new ideas or perspectives to help them tackle a problem. This gives them a lot of choices for how they want to approach a task.

Fairy Tales Lore Bits #6

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Water sprites come in a couple distinct varieties, with different fin shapes and general skintone ranges to fit their environment.

Lake/River: Their finwings are the most reminiscent of butterfly wings. They have soft curved shapes, and the patterning on them tends to run perpendicular to the many bones within the fins. These sprites have a silvery grey range of skintones.

Ocean/Tropical: These water sprites have more blue than grey in their skin, and often the pattern on the front side of their finwings is lighter than on the back. The patterning tends to run parallel to the bones in the finwings, which are slightly more angular in shape.

Deep Ocean: Elusive deep sea water sprites’s finwings are very sharp in shape, and don’t bear any patterns on their own. These sprites have very dark blue or grey skin, and the fins on their legs are more pronounced than on other varieties. Their skin and wings can light up in bioluminescent patterns for communication, and because of their deep ocean adaptation they are extremely durable beings.