The Problem with Magical Creatures

In almost every book you read you will find that the magical creatures are depicted as either Vain or proud.
I'm not saying that yours need to be, but it is good to keep that in mind as you think about them.

Description is everything. The way you describe things will always be different from the way others describe things. Take the above picture. How would you describe it? What is it? What isn't shown in the photo? What colors are shown? Describe one thing, what adjective is the first that comes to mind?

That's your description.

Not let me tell you my answers.

Mushrooms were closely packed together, like a tight little village of Pixie homes. Hiding away in their elusive houses, they peek out their windows at you as you pass. The roof's deer-like color stands neutrally against the green life surrounding it. Easily destroyed are their delicate homes, so watch your step.

Quite different, right?
It doesn't go into intricate details, but it gets the point across; that there were some mushrooms bunched together and that the writer thinks of mushrooms as little fairy homes. (Which they totally are!)
Though Mushrooms also make people think of:
http://images.wikia.com/nintendousatitle/images/1/19/Shroom1.jpg

So take some time to think about what types of homes your creatures live in.
Do they live in mushrooms? Or enchanted tree houses? A cave? A mine? A castle, a hut, a farmhouse? Do they have a home? Or is the Creature a wanderer?

Practice Describing.

Maps Part 2

This is the map that I posted last time. I have been working on it quite a bit as you can see, adding rivers and lakes, and castles (pardon the drawing skills). This is about the time when I would start giving the map a story, this one just hasn't gotten one yet because my mind is a little blocked.

In any case it will probably get one...eventually. In any other case...I usually have a story for it by now.

But right now I am just contenting myself with adding to this map.

Maps are nothing so hard to do unless you are a Perfectionist. The only thing that is ever perfect is Christ.

Hils are just curves, and if you want to make hill homes just connect the two ends of a hill and put a door there.

Lakes can be whatever shape you choose. I made a lake look like a duck once.

Rivers tend to be connected to some larger body of water, like an ocean or lake.

Mountains are traingles, to save time. cause otherwise... well, look at the finished map below.

What do you notice?

There are many things going on on this map.





Now look at this cropped closeup.


Mountains, and little huts are all over the place. These mountains took an hour to do.




So a peice of advice.

Don't get crazy with you maps, or your hand will have more pencil on it than the paper will.

On Pixies: Part 2; Winter

Winter Fairies. Snow, ice, cold, barren land, bare trees; all the elements that make up winter, that is what these fairies are all about. Now it is not necessarily those weary things, they could be obsessed with the beautiful things of winter too like frosted windows, beautiful landscapes, sledding hills, frozen ponds for skating on, wintery clothing, and each little snowflake that must be woven uniquely.

They are passionate, but sometimes very chill in their relationships with other people. The Shadow, the night fairies, and them get along mostly in all ways, except that which I have already told you, and even then I will touch some more fairy differences when I get to night fairies to show you what I mean.


One example of a Winter fairy would be Winterlynn. Winterlynn is as her appearance portrays her; Cold, icy, unfriendly, deathly beautiful. She only loves certain people, she is only friendly with certain people. Her general rule is if you are like her, you are her friend, if you are a winter fairy, you are her friend, if you are family, depends on your relationship.


Another example of a Winter fairy would be Gavin Frosty-foot. He got the name Frosty-foot when saving a little girl from frostbite when he was really too young to be doing any magic, as a result, his foot is practically dead, and his foot is forever frost-bit. He loves children, he would spend whole Balls just playing with them, and singing them to sleep, tucking them into bed, and watching them sleep peacefully in the flickering candlelight. He is shy because of his foot, and blushes blue when a girl talks to him.


These two types of winter fairies clash, and would usually end up killing each other, but some keep the peace. They do their jobs, and get as much joy from it as possible. They are always working on new projects for winter.


When winter isn’t in season, they still make snowflakes for next year, they do the frost in early spring and in late fall. They rest for the most part. They look to expand their family, and they visit family.

On Maps

   The Start of a new map is like the start of a new story. And Every Map has a story in it, it's just up to the map maker to find it. But, the best part about a map that you make, is it can hold whatever you want it to.
   The map above is one I started a while ago and have yet to work on some more. Below is a labeled version (many thanks to the Paint Program) so that you know what is what. Also I will be adding a list of my favorite information gathering sites and some links to photos that I think you followers will enjoy.

As you can see, it is much more informative.

Maps are special to the maker because they are the only ones who truly know what is really going on as they draw those maps.

So, I challenge you, make your own map, put whatever you want on it color it with colored pencils, have fun, and don't get discouraged if something doesn't look right. Nobody is perfect, and you would beleive how many times I erased when making this map.

Pixies

   Pixies; Wonderfully small fairies (or Faeries) that help bring beauty to nature.
That, at least, is my opinion.

The Dictionary's Definition=
       Pixie- a fairy or elf: a fairy or elf often depicted as having pointed ears, wearing a long pointed hat, and being cheerful and rather mischievous

I will talk more than once on the topic of Pixies, usually telling you of the Jobs that I have found out about from my little pixie friends.

In my opinion, Gail Carson Levine's Pixie Dust books were very good; she made each fairy unique, explained what some of the jobs were, and had some wonderful illustrations.

But, here goes nothing and something at the same time.

The First Kind of Pixie I want to touch on is...

Autumn fairies -Do their jobs as if it was the most fun one would ever have your whole life. The Autumn sun soaks right into their skin, and gives them such energy and joy that they can only contain it by creating a fall more beautiful than the last. They are unlike any fairy really, the only fairy I could barely relate to it would be an Animal fairy.
Each one is more beautiful than the last, yet all are equally beautiful. When they rest, they look around them, satisfied with what they have accomplished, then drift into a serene sleep. It is this way that many have been killed by careless feet.
They make sure that the fall season produces enough food for all of the animals, then move on to taking down the leaves for a special festival. With the leaves they make houses, and fresh bedding, they make decorations, and insulate animal homes, they make clothing, all from the leaves of the trees.
What is left of the acorns, the tops and all, are used. They can be used for storage, the caps can be hats, or cups, and the nut (of course) is eaten in the festival.
I will give you two examples of Autumn fairies. A lovely fairy named Jubalana was caught soaking in the autumn sunlight, preparing to take a nap, as many autumn fairies do. Caralana, Jubalana’s littler sister, hands young squirrels acorns while taking quick breaks from painting the leaves, on occasion. They do their job, big or small, they do it well or not at all.
During the other seasons they plan on what to do better for the next year, they look for husbands, they spend more time with their families, go to balls, travel to far away places, anything to occupy their time.
They are kind, and generally marry those they have grown around. They like familiar things, but they also like new things. They build large houses, and sometimes, when a young couple decides to, they will move into it, all alone, and start a family that will live there until another young couple decides to break away. Otherwise they just keep expanding the house!

I think Pixies are able to be whatever size they wish, but some are different than others.

Welcome To A New World

Fantasy has always been one of my favorite things. Elves, Fairies (or Fearies), Dwarves, Nymphs; Those things are always coming after me and always being written about.
In this blog I am going to talk about the kinds of things you can do with fantasy worlds, whether it is just for fun, whether you use it for writing, and or whether you just want to learn about the kinds of fantasy creatures.
I may not post as often as I would like, because I do have school work to attend to, but I will try my best to post as informative and fun posts as I can.
I just want to tell you four things about this blog.

1. I do not use innappropriate terms, I do not swear, and I will NOT post anything that I think is innappropriate. If you can't say it around a five year old, you won't see it here.
2. This information will be based on my knowledge, my ideas, and the things that I can gather from the internet. I use my imagination to specify what I think things would be like.
3. I generally don't place magical creatures in an advanced world. The fashions are usually dresses for girls, and tunics and pants for guys. The weopens are generally swords, battle axes; not guns.
4. I am not big on the magical "Nature" of things, a little magic is okay, but after a certain point it makes me sick.

So, keep those things in mind and follow me along this fantasmical journey to another World filled with creatures unseen in our world.
And one other thing I didn't mention above.
I am not afraid to put my beleifs out there; I will probably being talking about the Bible, And God in just about every post, because everything has a root, and I have found many of those roots in the Bible.
But, I hope you enjoy this blog.

                   ~Crystals Rush