Sleeping Beauty and the Beast

AI art mashup

Since so many of the current Romantasy crop of novels involves variations or inspirations from the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, here’s another mashup… in AI this time. The originals are here and here.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/21/24: Classical Greek Names (Male)

The Fight Between Hercules and Antaeus, from the Gallery of Apollon, the Louvre, Paris

Authentic-sounding (NOT actually authentic, I want to make clear if you’re writing fact-based historical fiction) Greek names for men are just as easy to generate as those for women. And to accompany them, here’s a painting of the most manly man in Greek myth of all — Heracles! He’s pictured in his struggle against a giant named Antaeus, who draws his strength from the Earth. Therefore, usually dimwitted Heracles makes a smart move — he crushes him in a wrestling hold so his feet can’t touch the ground. Thereby, Antaeus is vanquished.

This is a fun painting, not only for exaggerated musculature of both men but for the ho-yay aspects, and how Heracles’ tiny head glares in sheer determination at his foe.

Peruse the list, and choose your fancy.

 

Classical Greek Names for Men

Aephos

Aepius

Andrio

Beias

Cleodeuces

Cloeus

Diomnon

Drethaesnon

Duissus

Gletos

Haspoeaius

Epeus

Euplos

Euraem

Ialstro

Lenethias

Mnatem

Mnippus

Omos

Ormus

Ostromis

Pengiades

Phiasos

Phlaemos

Plaegrus

Plegros

Plenobus

Sceptros

Sculsos

Senelophus

Strilthetas

Thruses

Traecius

Ucleus

Ucillos

Xeusphas

 

The Turkish Wizards of Love

AI Art

I had to include these outtakes from my Wizard of Love series. They’re hilarious!

Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/14/24: Love Magic

AI Art

Since it’s Valentine’s day, I thought I’d do a list of spells and magical items related to love, or its lack. Caution, a few of these are NSFW!

The fellow above is from Starry AI’s “pinup” art filter. The prompt was a variation of “bearded wizard with arms raised, a cloud of valentine candy hearts, Arabian Nights, fantasy” which gave me unsatisfactory results in every non-Midjourney program I had save for this pic, which looks like an old-fashioned valentine printed on a card. Not exactly Arabian Knights, but Turkish and I guess that’s good enough. He’s a Turkish Love Wizard! With a box of baklava.

 

Love Spells and Magic Items

Staff of the Marriage Broker: Used to determine a future couple’s marriage success. Typically used in societies where the youth’s marriages are controlled by their families. Anyone with magical ability can wield it. They work in various ways, but the two young people must be present. The mage will typically touch each one on the head and then plant the staff between them. The first quality to be tested is compatibility: common values, temperaments, experiences, etc. The tip will glow green for high compatibility (basically best friends), amber for neutral, and red for indifference or hate. Next to be tested is physical attraction and passion, which is a white light whose strength ranges from blinding to barely there depending on the strength of these qualities. Every society has its own idea of what the “proper” measurements may be, but no parent wants a marriage for their child with no passion where they will fight like cats and dogs.

The Staff of the Marriage Arranger is an enhanced version for wealthy or noble families. In addition to compatibility and passion, the staff tests fertility and health, blinking the number of children the couple can expect to have. Note that it only tests the young people as they are at the present; one using birth control, for example, will show up as infertile. The staff can also be programmed with a specific person’s profile so the mage can search far and wide for the perfect mate for them, which is often necessary with royal offspring.

Gloves of Ecstasy: The wearer of these magic gloves induces unbearable arousal to their sexual partner every time they are touched, acting like a temporary mind control spell. They are usually made of soft,  fine silk or suede.

Trousers of the Love Missile: These cursed trousers only work on males. They make the wearer experience an erection at the most inopportune times.

Beads of Cupid’s Entrance: Basically, a set of magic anal beads. Those taking in the beads experience such ecstasy their Intelligence and Wisdom are lowered by 5 points, while their Charisma, in the eyes of those using the beads on them, is raised by 5. They are most often carved from luxurious materials like jade or marble.

Reverse Attraction: When cast, it changes the sexual attraction the target feels for another into indifference.

Virgin Mate: Change’s one sexual partner back into a physical virgin.

Kaleidoscopic Heart: This spell causes the target to keep changing their mind about who they love.

Extend Chaste Relationship: In the midst of adventuring, a platonic relationship often grows into a sexual one. But it isn’t always feasible to pursue one due to the dangers of the quest. This spell cools the sexual attraction for a set period of time while preserving that friendship.

Siren Love Song: A powerful spell that gives the caster’s voice the power of a Siren’s regarding love and sexual attraction.

Heedless Love: The recipient will fall in love with a completely inappropriate partner. The duration of the infatuation depends on the mage’s level.

Scroll of the Clear-eyed Mate: This magic scroll contains a list of questions that the reader’s husband or wife-to-be must answer completely and truthfully. It only works on the intended spouse, and no other. The spouse doesn’t have to be willing to answer but when the user starts to read aloud, the spell on them begins. The AD&D equivalent of a prenup. It is made up especially for each user.

Swing of Welcoming Engagements: A decorative swing hung from a tree laden with soft cushions and big enough for two. A humanoid sitting in it, swinging gently, is guaranteed to a attract flirtatious intention no matter their looks or age.

Jealous Bastard: Instills uncontrollable jealousy in a being over their lover or spouse. The female version is Jealous Bitch.

Sweet Voice of Cupid: A cantrip that instills a feeling of well-being in the target, making them open to finding someone to love.

Treatise on Draconian Mating: This book contains information about the sexual and reproductive behavior of various dragon species. It is not magical, but contains useful information.

 

The Romantasy Explosion

The wizard of love

Since we’re nearing Valentine’s Day, let’s talk about… Romantasy.

As implied by the name it’s a mashup of Romance + Fantasy, a subgenre exemplified, perhaps platonically, by Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series, whose eponymously named first book came out in 2015. Marketed as YA, the fantasy novel was about a human girl’s entrapment in the land of the Fae where she grows to love the High Fae Lord who had kidnapped her. This wasn’t all that happened in the plot. There were adventures, a touch of horror, and family drama as well. But over the years it and its sequels began to be known more for its sensationalized romance and “spice” —  niche parlance for sexual heat and explicitness — than its fantasy aspects.

Continue reading

Worldbuilding Wednesday 2/7/24: Classical Greek Names (Female)

Women of Hades (AI art)

I covered Greek female names before on this site,  in this post about female centaurs. For that I drew on actual, lesser-known names from the myths of Ancient Greece. But since I had researched so much for that, how difficult would be to generate some in a completely random way?

So, you need a Greek girlie? Here you go. Caveat: these may mean something in ancient Greek that you hadn’t intended, or be complete nonsense, so not suggested for historical fiction.

Word about the AI art above: I was going for a bunch of Greek women lounging about the Underworld with Hades. Hades isn’t in this pic, but the women are clearly suffering from the darkness, hence their fascination with the lanterns, and the main one, on the right, looks more than a little mad from the ordeal.

 

Classical Greek Names for Women

Aetherpe

Aiglamena

Astriope

Bysephe

Calypthera

Cirta

Clydae

Clydice

Clypheis

Clypsohyda

Clythia

Clythoe

Deisce

Didea

Dodice

Eogeria

Erysphe

Eucrethea

Eudicle

Euphillina

Euribis

Hysthera

Iolippe

Iomne

Isto

Leupia

Mespra

Menede

Nephta

Oepene

Oephidra

Oethrys

Olythera

Ospoea

Pheraeste

Perdea

Psalaphone

Rithoe

Scyrithera

Sippilyte

Strybethe

Thendippe

Thermatrece

Timplaea

 

Worldbuilding Wednesday 1/31/24: Shades of Purple

Art by Midjourney

Though the color purple been democratized these days –- almost every mass-produced clothing item and stuffed toy is available in some shade of it –- it was once very rare and restricted to royalty. This was because its dye depended on a rare, arcane ingredient: the slimy secretions of the murex sea snail. For centuries, only Roman emperors, high-ranking Catholic clergy, and European kings and queens could afford to wear it, leading to the color’s long association with wealth and royalty. Commoners had to enjoy it in the skies of dawn or sunset or the colors of certain flowers; indigo and manganese provided alternate dyes. When synthetic dyes came on the scene in the 1800s, suddenly it was available to all.

Yet even then, the use of purple remained discrete. Victorians were fond of deep mulberry shades or muted lilacs, not the Tyrenian purple of the Romans which would have looked garish to them. It took the shocking paintings of the first modern artists and the Art Nouveau movement to restore purple to its former glory. Because of that, purple has always had an undercurrent of something bohemian and  “naughty” in it, an element by turns sensual, brash, and uncontrolled. It took the 1960s fashion explosion for it to break out into common use.

I remember drinking this.

Even so, it remained, and remains, a hue for those who consider themselves shocking or unique, even crazy. The color was immortalized forever in the Jimi Hendrix song “Purple Haze” and the rock groups Deep Purple and Moby Grape, giving it counterculture associations. A children’s powdered drink product of the time, Funny Face, featured a character called “Goofy Grape” who was a grape in a Napoleon hat, which referenced madness (at the time, delusions of grandeur, such as believing oneself to be Napoleon, was a cartoon staple as a shorthand for schizophrenia). In the 1969 debut of Hanna Barbera’s Scooby Doo, one character, Daphne, wore a shocking purple dress, which contrasted with her red hair. An earlier Hanna Barbera cartoon, The Herculoids, had all manner of purple monsters and aliens.

As the 1960s associations faded the color, as lavender, joined pink as a “girl color” for gender-themed toys and clothing in the 1980s and began to be associated with unicorns and dragons. Due to the influence of a much-circulated poem, elderly ladies began to dress in purple, often entirely so, to shout to the world “I’m here! I matter!” Lesbians adopted a light purple shade as a color of pride, as gay men had appropriated pink. Purple began to be added to Easter holiday shades and the black and orange palette of Halloween, joining poison green.

A trio of purple icons: Barney the Dinosaur (1992); Prince (1984); and Maleficent (1964.) Yes, she’s not fully dressed in purple, but the purple trim is an integral part of her character. Note the background has purple hues as well.

As a child, purple was always my favorite color. I had a fake-fur purple coat with silver buttons and a room painted light purple. At the age of six, I received a new pantsuit for Christmas consisting of bright purple polyester pants and a white and purple striped shirt. Any gift given to me, it had to be purple. I’ve long outgrown that phase of course, but purple still holds a soft place in my heart.

One of purple’s peculiarities is that there’s not a lot of words to describe it, and chances are those words that do are too obscure for some readers. Heliotrope and periwinkle, for example, or dozens of other flower names most people have never heard of. Thus, to come up with novel color names is a bit harder and that leads to another association with purple – purple prose.

So, following is a list of what I made. I’m rather fond of “Reggae Iris” and “Senate Necktie”… how about you?

 

Shades of Purple

Senate Necktie

Princely Pollen

Reggae Iris

Dusky Grape

King’s Orchid

Roman Banner

Prairie Nuptials

Poi Purple

Evening Tempered

Abyssal Blackberry

Rustic Plum

Come Drink the Wine

Hipster Purple

Heliotrope-ical

Plum Basket

Rhapsody in Aubergine

Russian Highlander

Plum Sorbet

Electric Thistle

Deep Foggy Sea

Royal Dusk

Berried Primrose

Cupcake Sprinkles

Earthy Raisin

Toy Unicorn

Tickle-Me-Violet

Tudor Purple

Amethyst Fields

Chinese Cobalt

Mauve and Melody

Cyberpunk Purple

Bruised Cognac

 

Passing Obsessions 1-24

Creating Chinese New Year coloring book images in Midjourney.

Author Jenny Trout’s’ lengthy recap of Sarah J. Maas’s Faerie fantasy A Court of Thorns and Roses. If you’ve wondered what all the fuss was about, but don’t want to read the book itself, read this instead.

Shipping container houses.

Face/Off, an original Syfy show about makeup artists competing to create the most outstanding fantasy creatures. I’m watching Seasons 3 and 4 on Netflix.

Shawarma.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 1/17/24: Hawaiian Cocktails (ChatGPT)

On my own, I’ve done a pretty good job of generating imaginary cocktails, including those related to Christmas and Narnia. Since ChatGPT has advanced to the everyman level, why not see what it can do?

I used OpenAI’s version, which is free with registration, and the basic prompt was “Give me a list of imaginary cocktails with a Hawaiian theme. List the ingredients.”

It wasn’t quite as creative as my own randomgen would have been but it went a lot faster, and the results were acceptable and plausible if a little on the predictable side. However there were some gems in here, like the Coconut Crashinator and Lava Lamp, and the silliness of using an pirate’s eyepatch as a garnish. (There were also some questionable elements like”Hawaiian ku’ulei necklace glass” and “taro-infused vodka.”)

 

Hawaiian Cocktails by ChatGPT

Lagoon Crawler Coconut rum and blue curaçao, served over ice and garnished with an orange wheel and a cherry.
Hula Heatwave Mix Jalapeño-infused tequila, watermelon juice, lime juice, and agave syrup. Shake well and strain into a salt-rimmed glass with a watermelon wedge on the rim. (NOTE: This recipe seems more Mexican than Hawaiian.)
Tiki Tornado A potent mix of rum, absinthe, and pineapple juice with a dash of chili-infused syrup. Garnished with a flaming pineapple wedge for added flair.
Coconut Crashinator Made with 151-proof rum and coconut cream, served in a coconut shell with a paper umbrella.
Mai Tai Mai Tai Mai Tai (aka Triple Trouble) A concoction of  dark rum, light rum, overproof rum, and a trio of fruit juices, garnished with a pineapple spear doing the hula and a miniature surfboard.
Lava Lamp Everclear, blue curaçao, orange bitters, and a dash of grenadine served in a tall glass with a glowing ice cube.
Rum Rebellion Riot Jamaican overproof rum, falernum, lime juice, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve in a pirate-themed mug for extra rebellion vibes. Garnish with an eyepatch.
Volcano Vaporizer Flaming absinthe, cinnamon schnapps, and a splash of passion fruit puree presented in a volcano-shaped glass with caution tape. Rim the glass with chili salt for a spicy kick.
Luau Libation
Navy-strength rum, grapefruit juice, coconut cream, banana liqueur, and pineapple juice, shaken and strained into a tiki mug.
Ku’s Kava Kick Kava-infused rum, ginger beer, lime juice, and a touch of honey served in a wooden kava bowl with a lime wheel.
Kapua’s Kukui Kicker Gin, passion fruit juice, and a drizzle of kukui nut syrup. Served over ice in a traditional Hawaiian ku’ulei necklace glass.
Pele’s Punch Spiced rum, passion fruit juice, lime juice, and a splash of ginger syrup. Captures the spirit of the 1950s Polynesian-inspired era of Trader Vic’s exotic and imaginative concoctions.
Kane’s Kona Koffee Dark rum, Kona coffee liqueur, coconut water, and a drizzle of macadamia nut syrup. Served over ice with a coffee bean garnish and a cinnamon stick. (NOTE: There were a lot of K’s in these generations)
Taro Twist Taro-infused rum, coconut water, lime juice, and a touch of honey. Served over crushed ice in a tiki mug.

2024 Reading Challenge

Booksmart? No.

I haven’t had much success with reading challenges these past years. In 2023, I finished 5 out of 12. In 2022, it was eight out of twelve, with a little cheating: three-quarters.

So THIS year, I’m only going to pick six. That’s make it a little easier to chew.

19. Like a novel, only real: Creative nonfiction.
Storyteller, Dave Grohl
Nirvana’s drummer, and rock star in his own right, tells some autobiographical stories.

20. What’s your sign?: A book by an author who shares your astrological sign (Greek or Chinese zodiac).
A book by William Golding, we are both Virgos.

21. Do you deliver?: A book where food, cooking, restaurants, chefs, etc. play a major role.
Twinkie Deconstructed, Steve Ettlinger
All the food additives manufacturers use explained.

22. That old black magic: A paranormal novel.
Death of the Necromancer, Martha Wells
Been waiting to read this for a while. An alternate-world Gothic Italy with supernatural hijinx.

23 After the fall: A post-apocalyptic or dystopic book.
The Product, Marine Fontaine
Russian dystopia in the style of Roadside Picnic which I’d enjoyed.

24. Top of the Heap: A book on any Top Whatever list.
Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher
Not the usual kind of fantasy I’d read.