Reading Challenge SC 2022
The Blue Anvil version
Disclaimer: as the subtitle of the article might suggest, many of the articles selected are wholesomely naughty.
Erotica and romance writings in WA have been relegated to an hidden niche in the past year or so, with little spaces to be shared and advertised within the community, so please forgive me if I disregard some of the challenge rules and chose instead to showcase some of the few authors who still bravely persist and produce wholesome and fun and heartwarming content for the mature public even during the major challenges.
This is the genre I am writing in and these three are the authors who keep inspiring my work by being mentors, muses and amazing friends.
Dani
Legend DaniAdventures
Dani
You are doing a great job! Keep creating; I believe in you!
Luridity: Where love is love and life is lived. Contains NSFW content.
Now with serialized fiction on Ream!!
Α species that survives in an unlikely place
I love both of the species' articles that Dani produced this July. She did an amazing work at science them, enough to make me google if some of the things she mentioned were real, and in weaving them in the rest of the world's fabric. The addition of the train surfers is unexpected and a vibrant piece of worldbuilding.
Inspiration: work harder on the internal coherence of the world and always try to add something unexpected and fun in the articles
I admire how Dani managed to fill some of the prompts with some core articles for Luridity. The figure of the Overlords was a bit foggy in my mind before this article and now I feel like I understand better the concept and backgroud of the world. In particular I will need to further study the way she came up with a timeline over such an extended time and make it believable.
Inspiration: set some time to work on Hislariya timeline and remember tooltips exist and can be used to add fun to an article.
A title that commands respect from those in the know
Naelin Cutuli Monsalve Trewin
She recognized that that is how friendships begin: one person reveals a moment of strangeness, and the other person decides just to listen and not exploit it.I started to list all the things that make me grateful for Nae's friendship and realized I would need a couple more articles. Not only my writing but my life would be much different had I not decided to tell the bones' boy that I liked his craft. He's one of the most caring and genuine people I've met in my life and he's the reason why I started trusting people more. It's been a journey with many laughs and many tears, now at least one of us reached his goal and I can't be happier about having been allowed to keep him company along the way .
Α species that survives in an unlikely place
I am enamoured with Naelin's Tierras Magicas world. It's such a heartwarming and intimate experience every time I find a new article in my notification and get to experience a slice of a friend's childhood that I missed out on because of the deception of space and time. This article in particular brought back memories of old bookshelves and partially falling apart tomes that were my refuge as a child, and the fascination for these little creatures who shared that human spaces.
Inspiration:continue working on small evocative details that deepen the setting and get more personal in their description.
The passion with which Naelin talks about the Good Sounds is contagious and I enjoy all the videos and music he and the other two in this list share as a consequence. I really like how in his world, this less known and less catered for kink has a prominent place in the culture and gets recognized specialists and professionals.
Inspiration:remember that a sprinkle of wish fulfillment is not a bad thing when worldbuilding. There is bound to be someone else who is interested in the same niche topic as you do. Also work harder to find the right sounds to embed in some of the articles of Hislariya, in particular those relative to the Resonators.
A title that commands respect from those in the know
TJ Mason Corvus Cutuli Monsalve Trewin
TJ is, curiously enough, one of the first people I interacted with on WA's Discord, when I messaged him to tell him how well curated and what great taste I thought he had in his Unsplash collection. Months passed and I got intimidated by the amount of passion he pours in so many fields and his unmatched sense of esthetic and measure, so didn't reach out to him further. Luckily I had the chance to chat more with him and to know him better and got acquainted with the funny, generous and earnest man he is. He is a true treasure with an heart of gold and I am so blessed for knowing him.
Α species that survives in an unlikely place
I love all the little details and double entendres TJ weaves in his kinkier articles. This is a delicious examples of a teasingly naughty article, while still being a complete and believable depiction of an animal species. The suggestiveness of images and words is perfectly balanced to be flirty but still tasteful for the general public.
Inspiration:Remember to use humor and suggestive images to deliver the mature content in the worldbuilding. Think about introducing self assigned groups for the mature content in Hislariya, in order to be more free in the depth to which sensitive and suggestive topics can be treated.
I am in awe at how much worldbuilding all three of these rank articles managed to open up. I always consider them a not core type of template but I need to reevaluate it. TJ here crafted another article with two layesrs of meanings both with a substantial implication in the present and future of his world. I'll be waiting to see the developements.
Inspiration: Use more minor articles to increase the social complexity of the world. Also make better use of metaphores and behind the lines messages to tell two layers of the story in the same article.
A title that commands respect from those in the know
Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.
A few of my absolute favourites that didn't make the cut because of the setup of the challenge
Inspiration: Make more use of the notes sections to give insight to IRL equivalent, inspiration and to foster better understanding of what's portrayed, in particular for kinky themes.
Inspiration: Use longer sections of prose for worldbuilding where appropriate.
Inspiration: Hislariya will need its own set of traditions linked to its kinky scene, since it is so predominant in the actual stories.
Inspiration: Another one that I should take as an example of how to be bolder in my worldbuilding and not shy away from allegories of personal themes.
Inspiration: be even bolder in your character creation. In particular, think about a rework of Daniya's character to give her a proper arc.
Inspiration: Keep up with the voice training and get confident enough to add my own recordings to articles. It probably won't reach Original Trewin (TM) levels, but it's always a cool addition. Also poems! I need to learn to write in rhymes, for love's sake!
Inspiration: Write more healing spaces of growth and self discovery in Hislariya.They also wrote a bunch of articles that are tagged as still heavily WIP, so I won't include them here, but I am looking forward to see them completed and will add to this list after they are finised.
Some extra bodies of work that I enjoyed a lot during this SC
Nychkaneh is half cute and fun kids shenanighans and half terrifying kids shenanighans. Enter with caution if you are a parent or a teacher XD
Cathedris. What else do I need to tell? <3
If your life is blessed by cats or otherwise like them (but even if you are suspicious of them and think they are up to something), you need Milla's world in your life
Aaaaaaa ;w; <3 <3 <3 <3
Cute <3 <3 <3