Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)

@kiraofthewind.com

5758 Followers 1625 Following

She/her, author of fantasy novels with Shadow Spark Publishing✨ Fantasy gamer, anime nerd, reader, pixel art🌈 Monthly Worldbuilders host Autistic ace vampire🧛‍♀️ LGBTQ+ safe🏳️‍🌈 Occasional 18+ content🔞 NO AI Links to my stuff: https://linktr.ee/kiraofthewind

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 4: Forests 23. Does your MC spend any time in a forest? Why are they there? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
map of Aloutia
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn He bit off the end and was consumed with disappointment. How could this food, the best thing he’d ever eaten, the thing he named himself after, be so underwhelming now? It was edible. It wasn’t so bad he had to spit it out. But he was not happy eating it. Chives and the women around the room burst into raucous laughter. Only his brother Garlic refrained, not understanding what they found so funny. “You better not me tormenting my boys!” Shallot shouted as she stood imperiously at the entryway to the common room. Zucchini looked at the long, green veggie in his hand, wondering if maybe he’d been given the wrong thing by mistake. Shallot heaved a sigh so heavy her breath could have blown the boys away. “Did Chives say you had to eat a raw zucchini?” she asked. “I thought it would be good!” “Come on, let me show you boys how this works.”
Tynan from Merchants of Dance and Hedonism, drawn by Nush Deco. Tynan is two people, both shown here, dancing with each other. The masculine Tynan is wearing a suit with sawtooth lapels. The feminine Tynan is in a wide red dress and has a phoenix feather in their hair behind their ear. They are looking up toward the viewer, both with vicious looks on their faces and a wide grin. They are in a ballroom and there are other fancy-dressed people in the background.
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn “Then listen to my explanation of what I saw happening inside your soul, then decide which course of action you’d like to take. A soul is like a grand tapestry of a million threads, each one being a word or action that has defined who you are. Demonic curses work by placing a knot of threads on top of your tapestry. The nature of the curse determines how it will interact with your soul. Some are constant, with threads that are forever interwoven into the soul of the cursed individual. Other curses, such as yours, do not interfere until a certain condition is met. In your case, when you hold a blade which your mind perceives as a weapon. At that point, the curse-knot entwines in your soul-tapestry to change who you are.” “Can you remove the knot?” Aubergine asked. “No, not the entire thing. As Lord of Frenzy, I can only remove the thread of ‘frenzy.’ The other threads—deception, bloodthirst, seduction, murder, betrayal, blasphemy, insanity, and others I couldn’t identify—those will remain. Moreover, to keep this ‘knot’ metaphor going, if I were to undo the string of ‘frenzy,’ it would loosen the entire bundle and those threads would fall upon your tapestry in unpredictable ways. You do not want me to do this.”
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 4: Forests 22. What is the name of a forest in your world? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
screenshot showing Anthony Gramuglia's videos criticizing The Second Story
Post by me, Kira of the Wind, from yesterday Observation that isn't directed at any specific person: Everyone wants a morally grey character until they do something morally grey
“I sense the essence of ‘frenzy’ bubbling in your soul,” Tetsuya said. “But your mother imparted another essence in you to ensure you would calculate the odds of a successful battle. Interesting. Not just that one, but there are over a dozen essences intertwined. Give the dagger back to me.” He held out his hand, but Aubergine could not release it of his own volition, either. “You gotta pry it out of his hands,” Grilled said. Tetsuya snatched Aubergine’s wrist in one swift motion. The Nok-Sub man had made a motion as if to flee, but Tetsuya was too quick. Aubergine winced, even eliciting a slight squeal of pain, as Tetsuya forced his hand open and took back the dagger. When he was back to his normal self, Aubergine blinked, rubbed the soreness around his wrist and fingers, and lowered his head. “I apologize. The monster inside me has no manners.” “I know. I know better than anyone else what frenzy is. You wish to be rid of the spell that causes you to go berserk when you hold a knife, correct?”
screenshot of a Youtube video called "5 magic system mistakes new fantasy writers make"
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 21. What are some public events, contests, games, etc. in your world? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Meme of two characters. Individually, they are incredibly intelligent (bonus points if they're the best in their field) Together they are stupid
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn “I’ll protect you,” the Kraken whispered. “I can’t move, so stay behind me and go out just to throw your snowball.” “Maybe I’ll just pelt Shanky with snowballs until he runs away!” Beetie said. “Do it!” the boy dared.” I can take them!” She tossed snowball after snowball at the young Kraken boy, but he remained immovable, unfazed. Between Beetie’s tosses, Turnip risked throwing her own snowball. She hopped out from behind the tentacles, threw, and lunged back behind the safety of Shanks’s body. Through the small space between his tentacles, Turnip saw her own snowball hadn’t made it very far. Barely over the river, it landed far from Beetie’s feet. Turnip didn’t have the strength of her cousins. She couldn’t throw as hard or as fast as they could. “Use your breath,” Shanks suggested.
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 20. Who is a celebrated historical figure? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Eggy drawn by Dami Eggy from the Good Thyme Inn books. A long-armed, brown-furred girl with grown hair and animal ears. She is cute and happy, dressed in a colorful dress with sunflowers on the gems. She’s carrying packs with her alchemy/apothecary supplies and holding a potion
the meme of the cat looking daringly at a guy holding a knife up to it Caption: My 150K-word debut fantasy novel (the cat) Trad publishers telling me to keep it under 120K (the knife)
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn Shallot exhaled a heavy, anxious breath. Every night was a challenge and it was only getting worse. It was like a rotten miasma billowed across society and corrupted every soul who breathed it in. Had she simply been innocent and naïve as a child or was the Aloutian Empire truly worsening? She’d been taught as a child that the world had been a wretched Hellscape of cruelty and torture during the Age of Demonkind. After the God Lucognidus ascended to divinity and drove the demons out of Aloutia, it became a blessed land. This planet was supposed to be under his holy protection. But what had he done to save them since then? Where were kidnapped children vanishing to while a supposed omnipresent and omnibenevolent God watched over them? Was toil and misery all she had to look forward to in life? Why did money rule their lives?
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 19. What costumes are worn andwhat games are played for a holiday? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Turnip frowned. “What should we do?” “I can stab a motherfucker,” Grilled offered. With a flick of his wrist, a knife appeared in his hand. Turnip jumped. “Where the heck were yeh hiding that?!” Grilled gave her a menacing laugh. “I gotta keep up my mystique.” “Oh, knock it off.” Aubergine flicked his finger at the younger man’s hat. Grilled scrambled with his detached hands to keep his hat on his head. “Hey! Only thing being knocked off around here is my hat!” Turnip’s ears curled anxiously while she waited for the men to stop being silly. “I ask again: What should we do?” “I reply again,” Grilled said. “I can stab a motherfucker.”
The Orochijin were a species of people who made up the majority of the population of the nation of Ophidia. Not all Orochijin were Ophidian, nor were all Ophidians Orochijin, but there was significant overlap to the point both identifiers were synonymous with snakes.
Chives flipped it over, revealing the haughty blue-painted face of Her Holiness, Liqua. It was not a difficult task for the boys, as Chives didn’t have enough mobility or dexterity in his hands to trick them. “Exactly right. But, someone like you two? Boys with quick and tricky hands? You could practice at it and learn to trick people. And if you get really good?” He gripped each boy around the shoulder and pulled them close. In a voice quiet enough that Shallot could not hear him, he said, “You can scam people out of their money.” Zucchini’s eyes lit up and his mouth hung agape. “Wait, what does that mean?” Garlic asked. “What’s money?” Chives leaned back and guffawed. The women around the table had overheard and laughed with him. While the adults laughed at the kids, Zucchini’s undivided attention was on the three cards. He detached his hands and tried shuffling them around like Chives had, only doing so much quicker. “This kid doesn’t know what money is!” one of them chortled. “Oh fuck, how I wish I didn’t have to know what money was,” Chives said as he wiped a tear from his eye.
The Pentagonal Dominion Dark and Epic Fantasy Novels Venn diagram of the books currently published One circle is "Dark and Spicy content Another is "Epic Worldbuilding" The other is "Queer, Anti-authoritarian, Anti-capitalist" Authormccorkle.com Books by Erika McCorkle Kira of the Wind on social media On the top left is the logo of the Pentagonal Dominion Top right is my author picture Bottom left is Merchants of Knowledge and Magic Bottom right is Merchants of Light and Bone
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn The Queendom of the Morning formed early during The Conquering. It was decided that it ought to be a queendom—female-preference primogeniture solely for the royal family—just in case this new God Lucognidus turned out to be a fraud or was killed by a stronger Demon Lord. The next-largest country at the time was the Women’s Republic of Ophidia, and they likely would have consumed the scraps left by the new God if he were to suddenly vanish. By being a queendom, they had a higher chance of being left alone by the Ophidians, or at least being seen as a country willing to negotiate peace. The Ophidians did not believe men were capable of negotiations, so a queen would fare much better than a king. All other titles beneath the queen were given to the noble’s oldest heir, regardless of their gender, however.
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 18. Do you have any festivals with religious significance? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Cream the quad-cat, a fluffy white cat with four blue eyes. She's in a harness and helping hold alchemy ingredients for Cookie. She's in a mushroom forest background
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn “I hate her,” Onion said, mouth muffled by the pillow. “I hate Mamalade. I hate that stupid, perverted steward. I hate that brat of a baron. I hate everyone.” The baron of their town, Lord Velderash, was the same age as Shallot. Two months older, to be precise. The girls had often joked about her marrying him to climb the social ladder. Of course, a baron would never deign to marry a commoner girl. His age was noteworthy; rarely did noble heirs acquire their titles so young. His mother, the previous baron, had died suddenly and violently in the night three years ago. Rumors were the Queen sent a merchant of dance to slay the lady baron. Just as kids had to obey their parents or else get spanked, so it seemed lower nobles had to obey the Queen lest they face far more vicious punishments.
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 17. What foods are served during a feast? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn The table wasn’t just for cards—there was also a basket of buttery biscuits, an ashtray full of blue azurhizome dust, and each person at the table had a glass of beer or whiskey. Above them, a chandelier with gentle flames shone down. The glowlight lotuses hanging from the chandelier’s arms added a warm, pinkish light.
Calinthe painted by Celine Vu. Calinthe is a green-skinned dragonfly-winged person with blue hair and wearing purple priestess clothes with peacock feathers. She is holding a lotus. There is a stained glass behind her. It's giving religious vibes
Steffa from the Pentagonal Dominion books, drawn by Aureolin Flax. Steffa is a plus-sized lady in a purple dress with gorgeous patterns and a flower in her hair. She's dark-skinned, with tentacled fingers, and has dark hair.
How someone saw the sprite of Agahnim vs what it's supposed to be
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn In the afternoon, after lunch was served, but before the big dinner rush, Grilled and Aubergine had time to themselves most days. They had taken to going to the strip of trees on the inn’s east side if they wanted a private moment. The tree wall wasn’t particularly thick, but there were a few spots where they could kiss without being seen. Moreover, they were close enough that if Shallot hollered for them, they could be back inside in a minute. They told Shallot that they were going to gather alchemy ingredients for Cookie and Sage; there were a lot of useful herbs up there. Aubergine did not believe Shallot had fallen for the lie, but rather that she was playing ignorant and let them have their privacy since it would have been too much of an effort on her part to stop them. Grilled believed Shallot was genuinely in the dark about his activities. His soul squirmed gleefully with pride for successfully fooling the innmaster.
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 16. What's a solemn holiday that exists in your world? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
uwu emoji face
Pixel art bookshelf with various odds and ends including books, candles, crystals, a moon and star ornament, a stuffed animal, a coffee mug used as a pencil holder, and a tea set
Grilled from the Good Thyme Inn books, drawn by Sam/Just Miss Art. Grilled is a steampunk-themed gangster-looking fellow with silver hair, forked eyebrows, a bowler hat, knife, and green flames erupting from his wrists.
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 3: Festivals 15. What's a fun festival that exists in your world? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Haruka with the caption "I'm not interested in being polite or heterosexual"
Peaches drawn by AE-17 Peaches from the Good Thyme Inn books, a Takyufon, a person with roller blades for feet. They are tan-skinned, nonbinary, with pink tipped spiky hair, wearing a suit and tie. They have pink highlights all throughout their body and clothes
She grabbed the box of keys and guided Grilled into her bedroom. Along the way, she considered how much she wanted to tell him. Without knowing the contents of the book—there might have been inappropriate content for children—she struggled with what she should tell him. But she knew if she withheld it from him, he might not tell her the next time he discovered something secret. She had to make sure Grilled wouldn’t hide his discoveries from her. The boy watched the innmaster carefully as she sat on the side of her bed and rested the book on her lap. “I am very grateful you found this for me,” she said, putting a hand behind Grilled’s head and kissing the top of his head. When she pulled back from him, he’d quirked his forked eyebrows in that adorable way that made her want to pinch his little cheeks. “Um, well, your hatching-day is tomorrow, so maybe you can think of that as a present from me?” “Thank you. It means a lot to me.
Japanese microseason wheel calendar (mostly listed in Japanese, so I cannot translate it).
Signed note from Dani Finn To Erika, The OG worldbuilding nerd + my longtime fellow indie pub warrior. Thank you for all the laughs, tears, and hmms through the years. Tentacle hug incoming! And then a cute drawing of the tentacled creatures in the book
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 2: The Sun 14. What is the weather like where your MC is currently? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 2: The Sun 13. Are there equinox or solstice celebrations in your world? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn He lit the end of the fuse with regular fire from a match, per Aubergine’s suggestion. Gods and saints, he was smart. Grilled wouldn’t have thought of that on his own, and if he’d been caught because the explosion was lime green like his wrists… Fuck, what a stupid way to get caught that would have been. He got on the baron’s pretty red tro-odon and kicked it to run like hell toward Aleton. Grilled was still invisible thanks to the Shroud potion. If anyone spotted the reptilian bird on a mad dash through the woods, they would think it had lost its rider. When the bomb went off, his whole world shook. Grilled felt the wave in his very chest. A thud sent his heart and bones rattling. Even his brain felt like it had hit a wall. The tro-odon fell on its side and Grilled tumbled off, rolling over repeatedly and losing his hat amidst the chaos. His ears rang from the noise and he was momentarily stunned, but even in his moment of confusion, he had the wherewithal to grab his hat. The tro-odon had scurried back to its feet in a flash and bolted south. When he came back to his senses, Grilled figured the bird was as good as gone now, though maybe some farmer or hunter would find it and put it to good use.
Grim reaper taking lindsey graham and asking if Mitch McConnell is even in the claw machine thing
Why I didn’t like WHA: in brief Like I said before, it’s a Death by 1000 Cuts thing, where rather than one BIG thing that detracts from it, it’s constantly throwing some tiny detail that throws me off. By itself, each detail wouldn’t be enough to make me hate it, but they Just. Keep. Coming. Every episode had something that made me think “is the writer even trying?” or “Why did the writer choose to write it that way?” The first instance of one of these weird, small details happens in the first 3 or so minutes. The anime opens up to a scene of a magic flying carriage and the MC (little girl named Coco) is on the rooftop of her house/mom’s fabric store, and she’s all “wooow, magic! Amazing! I’ve never seen a magic flying carriage before!” Then she runs downstairs to meet the customer because she wants to see it up close. Downstairs, there are a few people: her mother selling fabric, three random women buying fabric, and the witch (male) Qifrey, who the anime goes to great lengths to portray as beautiful and amazing and full of aura. Now, any reader with two brain cells to rub together is probably thinking “ahh, Qifrey came on the magic flying carriage!” It makes sense. Coco has NEVER seen a magic carriage before and she’s also NEVER had a witch just randomly walk into her fabric store. It’s obvious. Nope. The carriage belonged to the three random women. LOL. Why? Why did the author choose to write it that way? Fuck if I know. Anyway, Qifrey fixes up their carriage (in private, because reasons) and the three randos are on their way.
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 2: The Sun 12. What religious and/or magical stuff is related to the sun? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
Flamboil and their child, two characters from the Pentagonal Dominion books. Flamboil is the God of Fire, though it’s left ambiguous which is which. If Flamboil is the woman, the man is Ashen Soul, Demigod of the Hearth and Home. If Flamboil is the man, the woman is Embernight, Demigoddess of Coal, Charcoal, and Warmth. Both characters have skin as dark as a the night sky, with little specks of white like stars and moons. They are dressed in red clothes and golden jewelry. The woman holds a strand of lava while the man holds a flame in his hand. They both have a patch over their left eye
Zoomed in version of the map in the post above indicating approximately where the Good Thyme Inn is located
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn The gears in Shallot’s brain turned, conjuring a scenario where the two boys had made their way to Nine Fires instead of her portal house. How might their lives have gone if they’d gone there, instead? Would the Viemen be enchanted by the colored flames of their wrists? Or would they have been captured and sold back to Ophidia? Zucchini, with his light green flames, might have been sent to the House of the Lime Flame, the culinary school that took in foundlings and trained them to be chefs. In another timeline, perhaps Zucchini would have a similar teenage life as Parsnips. Regardless, in this timeline, they had chosen to come through Shallot’s portal instead.
Map of Aloutia, one of the planets in my fantasy world. It has three main continents and many, many islands.
Entomothy drawn by Karkki. The God of Life in the Pentagonal Dominion books, He has light green Luna moth wings and antennae, but otherwise looks like an elderly human man with long white hair, a dad bod, and a toga. He has mandibles that look like a mustache
Modified DnD-style alignment chart, but the categories are: (on top): Accidentally genocidal, horny, bitch (one the side): Edgelord, And Sad, Mastermind Accidentally Genocidal Edgelord = Windesoar Horny Edgelord = Sparkato Bitchy Edgelord = Liqua Accidentally Genocidal and Sad = Machenerate Horny And Sad = Entomothy Bitch And Sad = Cherribell Accidentally Genocidal Mastermind = Sawyer Horny Mastermind = Lucognidus Bitchy Mastermind = Flamboil (Icsnow not on the graph because she literally doesn't have a personality)
Welcome to the Good Thyme Inn His fingers never stopped playing the revised rhapsody even when his mind did not know what came next. He instinctively knew, and he could not have explained where or how he learned it. It wasn’t as if he had ever hit random keys before and invented such a beautiful song right on the spot. Aubergine’s fingers moved as if he were possessed, like the song was not his, but rather that of some soul in a far-away dominion giving him this gift of strength and courage. Of love, light, and family. He lost himself within the music. The notes carried his mind into a land of wonder and fantasy, a world where he was one with all his friends. All was whole; all was peaceful. He was loved for being the person he was, and not just because of his breeding potential.
“When you’re done, try to get some sleep. You look exhausted.” “I cannot. The potion I had you make had Insomnia in it. When Shallot was brought down here, I had already been awake for a long time and I was about to go to bed. I couldn’t risk falling asleep during surgery. It has now been almost four triunes since I last slept. All I can do now is wait for the Insomnia potion to wear off.” “Is there any way to counteract it? A Sleep potion, perhaps?” “Do not mix Sleep and Insomnia. It could give you a heart attack. I will suffer until I fall asleep normally.” She dipped her toast into the farina and took a bite. A satisfying crunch resounded from her mandibles. “No, I won’t suffer. I will enjoy my food.” Grilled wiped his brow. “Any oasis in a desert. We must take whatever small pleasures we can in this world going to Hell.”
MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card #JulyWorldbuilders Hosted by Kira of the Wind Week 2: The Sun 11. What art or in-world stories are inspired by the sun? The background image shows a forest with the sun at a low angle, shining below the canopy. It’s very pretty green and yellow, giving a soft, gentle, warm feeling.
- He’d started a jaunty tune on the piano so Felli would enter into an atmosphere of whimsy. He hoped this would endure in her memories as a much happier start to a new life. -Shallot awoke in her own bed while ominous organ music played from the common room. … In the common room, all her family members and several guests had turned their chairs or stools to watch Iom’ren play the organ with an exaggerated, almost demonic, flair. His hands slammed against the keys with more force than was necessary, he sat with his back hunched over, and he rocked back and forth on his seat, his wings splayed like he was in mid-glide.
Honeydew drawn by Vii Morte Honeydew is a Luna moth-themed lady sitting at a harp, playing. She is dressed in a sexy, revealing dress. She has wavy red hair, antennae, and Luna moth wings.