February has a habit of being bleak and grey and in need of something… fantastical. But thanks to Jenelle Schmidt, this little wintry month has been infused with wonder! dragons! sprawling fantasy worlds! Yep, in case you hadn’t heard yet, February is Fantasy Month (for the fifth year!) and it’s not too late to join the party. More info over HERE.
Aaaand there’s a blog tag floating around, which the wondrous Christine Smith so kindly bestowed upon me. It’s all about fantasy creatures, one of my favorite categories, so here we go!
The Rules
- Thank the blogger who tagged you. (Thank you kindly, Christine!)
- Include the graphic somewhere in your post.
- Link back to this blog somewhere in your post. (Here it is again!)
- Answer the questions.
- Tag a few blogger friends – and let them know they’ve been tagged (Read to the end!)
- Have fun!
The Questions
1. In a strange twist of fate, you are transported into a fantasy realm of your choice. The catch? You have also been transformed into your least favorite fantasy creature. Where are you, and what are you?
I land breathlessly in the beautiful, broken city of Weep from Strange the Dreamer/Muse of Nightmares!
But least favorite fantasy creature? I rarely meet a fantasy creature I don’t like. I suppose I’ve been transformed into an ugly cyclopes or something.
I mean, look at this guy. Ugh. I don’t know what the citizens of Weep will do with me. They have enough trouble figuring out how to handle blue-skinned godspawn.
2. What fantasy creature do you wish featured in more stories? What is your favorite story that has that creature in it?
I really like the concept of hellhounds! Big, creepy black dogs that smell of sulfur and are considered an omen of death? I mean, what’s not to love? 😉
I haven’t seen them used all that often, but they were done SO well in Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. And the large black dog (otherwise known as the “Grim” or *insert spoiler name here*) in Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling gave me hellhound vibes too.
Hmmm… come to think of it, some of the night terrors in my WIP, The Brightest Thread, bear some similarities to hellhounds too.
3. As you are reading this, a voice rings in your ear proclaiming:
A hero true, a leader strong,
A quest is where you do belong,
So arm thyself, and take your stand
With an item to your left your fate is at hand.
Besides the fact that this prophetic voice is clearly incapable of sticking to a meter, what ordinary item do you now find yourself armed with? (And, for bonus points, what helpful magical properties does it now possess that will help you on your quest?)
This is great, you guys. I have a MAGICAL PILLOW to aid me in my quest!
With this pillow, I can get a good night’s sleep even on the nights I’m camping out in rough terrain (which is a prerequisite for hero-ing, doncha know).
You know why heroes always falter in their final battles, right? It’s because they’re EXHAUSTED. But no weariness can overcome me when I’m armed with such a useful object! It may even cushion my fall should I ever topple off a cliff or enemy tower.
It appears pillows come in handy for prison escapes too.
Let’s just hope I don’t sleep through all the good parts of my adventure.
4. You happen across an ad in a catalogue promising a magical fantasy cruise that will allow you to stop in any three realms of your choice and explore each for several days before returning you home (and the ad promises your safe return or your money back, guaranteed!) Assuming this is not a hoax and that the tour guides will actually be able to cater to your requests, what three realms will you tour and what do you hope to see/who would you like to meet along the way?
SIGN. ME. UP.
I’m stopping in Narnia first, no question! It was the world that first introduced me to fantasy, and it remains one of my favorites to this day. I’d spend hours in the woods, visit Cair Paraval and Lantern Waste, meet Aslan (!!!), dance with the fauns, and feast with the Pevensies.
Next up is Hogwarts! How much fun would it be to go to a wizarding school for a day? And of course I’d hang out with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and hopefully meet Sirius too.
Lastly… can I just pick my own realm? I’d love to hang out with Luci, Hadrian, and Aleida in the mountains of Iror! Hitch a dragon ride, run around Luci’s castle, hike the green slopes of the Branch.
5. Congratulations! You are a fantasy hero/heroine about to start your adventure. You get to choose a small fantasy creature to accompany and assist you on your quest. Who/what do you choose?
I’m stealing Christine’s answer because she read my mind.
I WANT A MINOR DRAGON.
They’re kitten-sized dragons with big personalities and special abilities in Donita K. Paul’s Dragonkeeper Chronicles, and they are the actual best. And they’re portable!
6. Elves or dwarves?
ELVES!!!
Because that means the fabulousness that is Legolas and Thranduil. And others too, I guess. But honestly, they’re the ones who spring to mind whenever someone says elves.
7. Do you prefer your dragons (we had to have at least one question devoted solely to dragons!) good or evil or a mix of both?
Of course we had to have an exclusively draconic question! 🙂
And oooooh. Let’s have a mix. Good, noble dragons… spine-chillingly evil dragons… morally grey antihero dragons. JUST GIVE ME ALL THE DRAGONS.
Christine mentioned some great examples, like the morally-mixed-bag cast of dragons from Bryan Davis’s Dragons in Our Midst series or the villainous Death-in-life from the Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.
8. World building is a complicated undertaking full of many details. As a reader, what is a small detail you really appreciate seeing when it comes to diving into a new realm? What is something that helps you lose yourself in a fantasy world?
I think more than any one detail, I love it when everything hangs together and makes sense. When there’s logic and inner consistency giving the world a good set of bones, I can get lost in all the fascinating details. It’s awesome to see how things like geography, history, names, cultural values and beliefs, mythology, politics, or magic all affect each other.
For example, one kingdom might have an abundance of one natural resource, which leads to an alliance or a conflict with another kingdom that’s lacking it, which bleeds into the people’s beliefs about the opposite kingdom, and maybe that’s all overlaid with an ancient mythological explanation of said alliance/conflict. And ALL of that affects how the characters live their daily lives, what obstacles they face, etc.
One thing runs into the next and the next and the next. Eeep! I get excited just thinking about it.
9. You have been transformed into your favorite fantasy creature. Problem is… you’re still in your own bedroom and your family is downstairs, completely unprepared for this shock. What creature are you, and how (if at all) do you break the news to your loved ones? (Or how do you get out of your room?)
Did someone say… DRAGON?!
No one is surprised, least of all my family. At least now I have a logical excuse to hoard gold books and flame anyone who intrudes upon my introvert time.
I hope I can be a pony-sized dragon and not bring my entire house down, though. See, my room is in the basement. I’m not sure what would happen if a Smaug-sized monstrosity busted out the ceiling and crashed onto main floor.
I’m Tagging…
Tori @ Wanderer’s Pen // Skye @ Ink Castles // Josiah @ The Steadfast Pen // Blue @ To Be a Shennachie
You can find the full list of copy-and-pasteable questions on Jenelle’s post! There’s zero pressure to accept the tag, and if anyone else wants to snatch it for themselves, go for it!
You did the tag! YAAAY!!! This was so much fun! 😀
*le gasp* I didn’t even THINK of adding Weep to my answers. That would be a great one to visit on that fantasy cruise! Exploring that city is the DREAM (pun totally intended). But oooh man, a cyclops…yeah. That’d be uncomfortable. XD
Hellhounds! YES. You know, I never really give them much thought, and yet whenever they’re in something I LOVE it! You are so right, more of them would be epic. That was one of my favorite parts in Starflower. They were just so terrifying and fascinating, all at the same time!
Okay, but having a pillow that makes you sleep perfectly would be THE BEST. I always wonder how these fantasy characters fall instantly asleep while out in the wilderness. And not just that, but with so much to think and worry about. Like…I probably wouldn’t get ANY sleep on an adventure, and be too tired to take down the final boss by the end of it. XD (Also that pillow gif was so perfect! LOLZ.)
NARNIA. HOGWARTS. IROR. YESSSS!!! That sounds like the BEST cruise!
YOUR ANSWER TO #8. YES. ALL THE YES! Everything connecting and causing obstacles and tension makes storytelling so. much. FUN!!! I love the way you put it: “When there’s logic and inner consistency giving the world a good set of bones, I can get lost in all the fascinating details.” <—SAME. It just REALLY makes the world feel so real when you see all these things connect and affect everything and everyone. I couldn't agree more!
We ALL are choosing dragon for the last question. XD I feel like we need to start some sort of dragon club, since we're all suddenly being turned into dragons.
The “I got turned into a dragon club!” 😀 😀
I’m in!
@Christine: Thanks again for tagging me! 😀
Weep is just so GORGEOUS and Laini Taylor’s writing made me want to visit. Minus the cyclopes part, hopefully.
I was really stumped on that question, so I started looking up lists of fantasy creatures and was like “HEY, hellhounds are cool!”
LOL, same here. There’s so much weighing our poor heroes down, AND they always seem to end up sleeping on the ground out in the woods or something. XD
SOMEBODY POINT ME TO THE TICKET BOOTH, I’M GOING. <3
Yes yes yes, I'm so glad you get it! Some storyworlds just *click* and everything fits together perfectly. I love those.
It's getting to be a thing. XDDD
@Jenelle: Welcome to the club! 😉
Whoo! You got a magical pillow, too! I love it!
And ooh, hellhounds are very creepy and awesome. They appear in the Dresden Files, as well, and while those books aren’t always the cleanest… they are very fantastical and fun… and there’s a fun quip between Dresden and his friend Michael where Dresden swears about hellhounds following them, and Michael (who is a warrior of God) gives him a pained expression over his language, and Dresden says, “Oh, sorry, (original swear) heckhounds.” and… I dunno, it made me laugh.
Of course you’re a dragon! And now YOU get to be the dragon living in your basement! Huzzah!
I definitely want to go on this fantasy cruise with you! Such good choices. (I mean, limiting it to three was just mean…) but I mean… we could probably go on multiple cruises of this type…. 🙂
Hahaha, I noticed/remembered you got a pillow too… AFTER I posted this! XD We can just be well-rested heroes together.
Every time I hear about the Dresden Files, I’m interested! They sound so unique, and since you love them so much… *adds to TBR* “Heckhounds,” though–that’s hilarious.
HA. YOU’RE RIGHT. 😀
Very mean. How could you. *pouts* But yes, we should just go on a new cruise every month or something! There are so many fantasy worlds to explore, and some I’d definitely want to visit more than once.
A magical pillow!? That is brilliant!
“No one is surprised, least of all my family. At least now I have a logical excuse to hoard gold books and flame anyone who intrudes upon my introvert time.” You’ve just changed from a BookWyrm to an EvenMoreofaBookWyrm.
Thanks for the tag!
‘Twould be a useful thing to have!
HA! I bow my head and gladly accept this rank of EvenMoreofaBookWyrm. 😀
You beat me to it–I was planning to hop over to your blog and let you know I’d tagged you! 😛 You’re welcome!
Thank you for the tag! I’m going to be super late with it but I wanna do it. XD ELVES FOREVAH! And hellhounds are super cool. They do need to be in more stuff. They’re in Skyrim too and they’re the war dogs of vampires. O_o
You’re welcome! I’ve been bad at actually visiting the blogs of those I tagged to let them know. Oops. XD
YAY ELVES! XD Oooh, that’s really cool about Skyrim. Games like those make me wish I was good at gaming, lol.
Thanks for the tag! 🙂
Narnia, Hogwarts, and elves.Great choices!!
You’re welcome! Sorry I utterly failed at coming over to tell you. >.<
I love this! (Also, I haven’t stepped into the blogging world is WAY TOO LONG… D: so much has changedddd)
Squeaks!!!! *tackle hugs* Good to see you again! How’s it going? And yes, oh my goodness, I’ve been bad at getting around to others’ blogs for a LONG time and I’m sure I’ve missed a lot. :/
Eeeyyya! No I have been AWFUL at keeping up to date lol! But I have a good reason for it 😛 I am now Dr. Squeaks… just finished my PhD!! Hopefully this means I can splurge on fantasy reading for the next few months while I’m tucked away on the farm as the virus rampages the cityscapes. I mean, not that I want that to happen (I hope they find a cure ASAP) but life is currently mellowed compared to what it was a few weeks ago 🙂 I’ve been thinking of giving my blog a makeover but idk… I haven’t touched it in like, 10 years D: I’m a little afraid that if I do it’ll be like a bad jenga play and everything will crumble to pieces.
Oh my goodness, congrats, Dr. Squeaks!!!!!! 😉 That’s a huge achievement! I hope the virus isn’t stopping you from getting a job in your field, though. :O
Life is definitely weird and mellow these days. Oh boy, I can imagine it would feel strange going back to a blog after that many years. Buuuut you could always give it a gentle poke to start with and see if it doesn’t fall apart. 😉