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#urbanfantasy — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #urbanfantasy, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Meet these great indie urban fantasy authors at the Urban Fantasy Genre Indie Authors Starter Pack! If you wish to be included in the starter pack, reply here. #urbanfantasy #writingcommunity #authorsky bsky.app/starter-pack/inventi...

  2. FINALLY!
    The issue with the line on the cover has been resolved! If you were waiting to buy your physical copy of Lost Infernal until I could confirm, you're clear !
    amazon.ca/Lost-Infernal-Shonna

    PERFECTIONISM, AWAY!

    #booknow #urbanfantasy #darkfantasy #bookstagram

  3. City streets, vampires, and werewolves. Ashai hunts down the arsonist to her blood bar, willing to do whatever it takes, until a local gang brings the city into an all-out war.

    books2read.com/ug
    azaleaforrest.itch.io/the-unde
    💙📚 #books #supernatural #urbanfantasy #writing

  4. City streets, vampires, and werewolves. Ashai hunts down the arsonist to her blood bar, willing to do whatever it takes, until a local gang brings the city into an all-out war.

    books2read.com/ug
    azaleaforrest.itch.io/the-unde
    💙📚 #books #supernatural #urbanfantasy #writing

  5. City streets, vampires, and werewolves. Ashai hunts down the arsonist to her blood bar, willing to do whatever it takes, until a local gang brings the city into an all-out war.

    books2read.com/ug
    azaleaforrest.itch.io/the-unde
    💙📚 #books #supernatural #urbanfantasy #writing

  6. City streets, vampires, and werewolves. Ashai hunts down the arsonist to her blood bar, willing to do whatever it takes, until a local gang brings the city into an all-out war.

    books2read.com/ug
    azaleaforrest.itch.io/the-unde
    💙📚 #books #supernatural #urbanfantasy #writing

  7. City streets, vampires, and werewolves. Ashai hunts down the arsonist to her blood bar, willing to do whatever it takes, until a local gang brings the city into an all-out war.

    books2read.com/ug
    azaleaforrest.itch.io/the-unde
    💙📚 #books #supernatural #urbanfantasy #writing

  8. Salognia Sorcerers, Chapter 2

    Three young mages arrive at a psychiatric hospital in the city of Salognia.

    aceade.net/2026/09/05/salognia

  9. Salognia Sorcerers, Chapter 2

    Three young mages arrive at a psychiatric hospital in the city of Salognia.

    aceade.net/2026/09/05/salognia

  10. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 130, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Tall #TimeTravelAuthors 09/5. Plant Grow

    The fairy dance ended as suddenly as it had started. One flute cut off mid-verse, and the other trailed off right afterwards. No one seemed alarmed or surprised. Most stopped in their tracks, while a few continued prancing for a few moments more before joining the rest and slipped away.

    Weena tugged on my arm and gestured at the building behind the trees. “Coome. Hoomee. Eeat.”

    I nodded, and we started toward the woods.

    The whole way, my new friend held my hand and babbled to me in a mixture of melodic syllables and fractured English. After asking a few questions, I realized I wouldn’t learn anything useful. She either didn’t know the answers, couldn’t communicate them, or I failed to make myself understood. As such, I retreated into my thoughts.

    I considered what I’d learned. I knew a fair amount about this world, or at least H.G. Wells’s theories. Meeting the fairies, for that is what I still thought of them as, had been fortunate. If I had followed the path, I might have run into the Morlocks. But about myself, I remained ignorant except for what short flashbacks had shown me.

    It was beyond frustrating that I remembered a “fictional” book more clearly than my own history.

    The woods soon ended, and we emerged into a wide glen with an enormous ruined mansion in the center. Lichen grew thick on its walls, and time had shattered its #tall stained-glass windows. The remaining geometric panes had slumped like wax candles left in the sun. I doubted the fairies had built it. Instead, some forgotten civilization must have done so.

    That thought offered a glimmer of hope. Remnants of that race could still exist. If I found them, I might learn more.

    Returning to my survey, I noted #plants heavy with berries, small fruits, and pea-like pods growing throughout the glen. There was no sense of their being planted by the fairy folk. The herbage sprouted in random swatches or alone, just as the wind had scattered their seeds. Amidst this lush abundance, a wide variety of melon vines snaked along the ground. Here too was an untended bounty of yellow, green, and dappled gourds. At the forest's edge grew trees laden with red, purple, and topaz globes. It was no surprise that the protagonist of H.G. Wells’s story had mistaken this for a utopia at first.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  11. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 130, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Tall #TimeTravelAuthors 09/5. Plant Grow

    The fairy dance ended as suddenly as it had started. One flute cut off mid-verse, and the other trailed off right afterwards. No one seemed alarmed or surprised. Most stopped in their tracks, while a few continued prancing for a few moments more before joining the rest and slipped away.

    Weena tugged on my arm and gestured at the building behind the trees. “Coome. Hoomee. Eeat.”

    I nodded, and we started toward the woods.

    The whole way, my new friend held my hand and babbled to me in a mixture of melodic syllables and fractured English. After asking a few questions, I realized I wouldn’t learn anything useful. She either didn’t know the answers, couldn’t communicate them, or I failed to make myself understood. As such, I retreated into my thoughts.

    I considered what I’d learned. I knew a fair amount about this world, or at least H.G. Wells’s theories. Meeting the fairies, for that is what I still thought of them as, had been fortunate. If I had followed the path, I might have run into the Morlocks. But about myself, I remained ignorant except for what short flashbacks had shown me.

    It was beyond frustrating that I remembered a “fictional” book more clearly than my own history.

    The woods soon ended, and we emerged into a wide glen with an enormous ruined mansion in the center. Lichen grew thick on its walls, and time had shattered its #tall stained-glass windows. The remaining geometric panes had slumped like wax candles left in the sun. I doubted the fairies had built it. Instead, some forgotten civilization must have done so.

    That thought offered a glimmer of hope. Remnants of that race could still exist. If I found them, I might learn more.

    Returning to my survey, I noted #plants heavy with berries, small fruits, and pea-like pods growing throughout the glen. There was no sense of their being planted by the fairy folk. The herbage sprouted in random swatches or alone, just as the wind had scattered their seeds. Amidst this lush abundance, a wide variety of melon vines snaked along the ground. Here too was an untended bounty of yellow, green, and dappled gourds. At the forest's edge grew trees laden with red, purple, and topaz globes. It was no surprise that the protagonist of H.G. Wells’s story had mistaken this for a utopia at first.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  12. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 130, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Tall #TimeTravelAuthors 09/5. Plant Grow

    The fairy dance ended as suddenly as it had started. One flute cut off mid-verse, and the other trailed off right afterwards. No one seemed alarmed or surprised. Most stopped in their tracks, while a few continued prancing for a few moments more before joining the rest and slipped away.

    Weena tugged on my arm and gestured at the building behind the trees. “Coome. Hoomee. Eeat.”

    I nodded, and we started toward the woods.

    The whole way, my new friend held my hand and babbled to me in a mixture of melodic syllables and fractured English. After asking a few questions, I realized I wouldn’t learn anything useful. She either didn’t know the answers, couldn’t communicate them, or I failed to make myself understood. As such, I retreated into my thoughts.

    I considered what I’d learned. I knew a fair amount about this world, or at least H.G. Wells’s theories. Meeting the fairies, for that is what I still thought of them as, had been fortunate. If I had followed the path, I might have run into the Morlocks. But about myself, I remained ignorant except for what short flashbacks had shown me.

    It was beyond frustrating that I remembered a “fictional” book more clearly than my own history.

    The woods soon ended, and we emerged into a wide glen with an enormous ruined mansion in the center. Lichen grew thick on its walls, and time had shattered its #tall stained-glass windows. The remaining geometric panes had slumped like wax candles left in the sun. I doubted the fairies had built it. Instead, some forgotten civilization must have done so.

    That thought offered a glimmer of hope. Remnants of that race could still exist. If I found them, I might learn more.

    Returning to my survey, I noted #plants heavy with berries, small fruits, and pea-like pods growing throughout the glen. There was no sense of their being planted by the fairy folk. The herbage sprouted in random swatches or alone, just as the wind had scattered their seeds. Amidst this lush abundance, a wide variety of melon vines snaked along the ground. Here too was an untended bounty of yellow, green, and dappled gourds. At the forest's edge grew trees laden with red, purple, and topaz globes. It was no surprise that the protagonist of H.G. Wells’s story had mistaken this for a utopia at first.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  13. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 130, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Tall #TimeTravelAuthors 09/5. Plant Grow

    The fairy dance ended as suddenly as it had started. One flute cut off mid-verse, and the other trailed off right afterwards. No one seemed alarmed or surprised. Most stopped in their tracks, while a few continued prancing for a few moments more before joining the rest and slipped away.

    Weena tugged on my arm and gestured at the building behind the trees. “Coome. Hoomee. Eeat.”

    I nodded, and we started toward the woods.

    The whole way, my new friend held my hand and babbled to me in a mixture of melodic syllables and fractured English. After asking a few questions, I realized I wouldn’t learn anything useful. She either didn’t know the answers, couldn’t communicate them, or I failed to make myself understood. As such, I retreated into my thoughts.

    I considered what I’d learned. I knew a fair amount about this world, or at least H.G. Wells’s theories. Meeting the fairies, for that is what I still thought of them as, had been fortunate. If I had followed the path, I might have run into the Morlocks. But about myself, I remained ignorant except for what short flashbacks had shown me.

    It was beyond frustrating that I remembered a “fictional” book more clearly than my own history.

    The woods soon ended, and we emerged into a wide glen with an enormous ruined mansion in the center. Lichen grew thick on its walls, and time had shattered its #tall stained-glass windows. The remaining geometric panes had slumped like wax candles left in the sun. I doubted the fairies had built it. Instead, some forgotten civilization must have done so.

    That thought offered a glimmer of hope. Remnants of that race could still exist. If I found them, I might learn more.

    Returning to my survey, I noted #plants heavy with berries, small fruits, and pea-like pods growing throughout the glen. There was no sense of their being planted by the fairy folk. The herbage sprouted in random swatches or alone, just as the wind had scattered their seeds. Amidst this lush abundance, a wide variety of melon vines snaked along the ground. Here too was an untended bounty of yellow, green, and dappled gourds. At the forest's edge grew trees laden with red, purple, and topaz globes. It was no surprise that the protagonist of H.G. Wells’s story had mistaken this for a utopia at first.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  14. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 130, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Tall #TimeTravelAuthors 09/5. Plant Grow

    The fairy dance ended as suddenly as it had started. One flute cut off mid-verse, and the other trailed off right afterwards. No one seemed alarmed or surprised. Most stopped in their tracks, while a few continued prancing for a few moments more before joining the rest and slipped away.

    Weena tugged on my arm and gestured at the building behind the trees. “Coome. Hoomee. Eeat.”

    I nodded, and we started toward the woods.

    The whole way, my new friend held my hand and babbled to me in a mixture of melodic syllables and fractured English. After asking a few questions, I realized I wouldn’t learn anything useful. She either didn’t know the answers, couldn’t communicate them, or I failed to make myself understood. As such, I retreated into my thoughts.

    I considered what I’d learned. I knew a fair amount about this world, or at least H.G. Wells’s theories. Meeting the fairies, for that is what I still thought of them as, had been fortunate. If I had followed the path, I might have run into the Morlocks. But about myself, I remained ignorant except for what short flashbacks had shown me.

    It was beyond frustrating that I remembered a “fictional” book more clearly than my own history.

    The woods soon ended, and we emerged into a wide glen with an enormous ruined mansion in the center. Lichen grew thick on its walls, and time had shattered its #tall stained-glass windows. The remaining geometric panes had slumped like wax candles left in the sun. I doubted the fairies had built it. Instead, some forgotten civilization must have done so.

    That thought offered a glimmer of hope. Remnants of that race could still exist. If I found them, I might learn more.

    Returning to my survey, I noted #plants heavy with berries, small fruits, and pea-like pods growing throughout the glen. There was no sense of their being planted by the fairy folk. The herbage sprouted in random swatches or alone, just as the wind had scattered their seeds. Amidst this lush abundance, a wide variety of melon vines snaked along the ground. Here too was an untended bounty of yellow, green, and dappled gourds. At the forest's edge grew trees laden with red, purple, and topaz globes. It was no surprise that the protagonist of H.G. Wells’s story had mistaken this for a utopia at first.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  15. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 63
    #Wss366 Treble #TimeTravelAuthors 9/4 Whatever

    Inside the passage hung a feline odor, strong enough to wilt feathers, and paw prints littered the dusty floor. We turned left in the direction most of them led.

    “It’s walking on its hind feet,” Sumika said after a few meters and pointed to where the marks of the forepaws ceased, leaving only the rear ones.

    “Indeed, that’s because it’s a nekomata. Be glad this passage is wood, not stone,” I replied.

    “Why?”

    “Because your ‘cute’ kitty can spit fireballs. I doubt it wants to burn its mistress’s home down.”

    “Oh!”

    “It could be worse. We might have run into a gotokuneko. They’re about #treble the strength.”

    “Treble? What kind of word is that? Just say three times.”

    “It’s a perfectly good word.”

    “Whatever. And what about ‘gotokuneko?’ You’re not making that stuff up, are you?” Mistress asked.

    “Moi? Me? Make stuff up? I’m wounded. No, I studied this kind of thing when I was a woman.”

    “You know you’re a lot more human-like than when we first met. You almost talk normally, barring words like ‘treble.’”

    “Awk, chicka, cawa! Pay attention, there are lights ahead,” I cawed, irratated.

    How could Glinda-chan say such a thing? Hmph! Just when I was thinking she had more than one brain cell, she says utter rubbish. But no, she’s nothing more than a three-toed sloth.

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  16. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 62
    #Wss366 Mole #TimeTravelAuthors 9/2 Whatever

    More seriously, we rounded the screen in time to see the cat cross the space beyond and disappear behind a triptych. An image painted on the edge panel caught my eye. It depicted a woman summoning a giant skeleton, with a dog-sized frog at her feet. “Takiyasha-hime,” I thought.

    The portrait’s most interesting detail was the large, yellow tear-#mole below one of her eyes. That was no coincidence. The mark was an inauspicious one, and I suspected the painter had intended the figure to be recognized as ill-fated before the viewer ever noticed the skeleton.

    It was easy to see how a place like this might acquire a sinister reputation, even becoming considered cursed. That would make it an ideal location to hide a secret entrance.

    My supposition proved correct. When we slipped around the partition, we found an alcove draped with drab, dusty wall hangings, and concealed behind one of them was an opening to a narrow passageway.

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  17. #ScribesAndMakers Sep 1:

    #Introduction

    I am an author of #Sapphic-fueled #Mythpunk serials: #Yuri (Japanese-style lesbian romance), #UrbanFantasy, & #TimeTravel.

    I have 3 complete & 2 new self-published serials (Time-Travel & Urban Fantasy)

    Bijou the Time-Traveling Ghost

    For Love of a Konbini Idol

    My Girlfriend Almost Got Me Killed (R18)

    Arisu: The Girl Who Saw Ghosts

    Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    • First serialization now on the Fedi. Will be revised for broader release later.

    I also write JP-style #Poetry: Haiku, Tanka, Renga, and Rengay.
    And I am an urban photographer,

    #NMFic #WritingCommunity

  18. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 129, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Cant #TimeTravelAuthors 09/1. Introduce your story (use the word "fall")

    The fairy, Weena, turned and spoke to the others, who were now traversing the circle, dancing a graceful yet chaotic dance while singing in the flowing language of her people. One word was clear: “Hurburth.” Upon speaking, she pointed at me. Was that my name or the type of creature I was? I don’t suppose it mattered; there were no other humans they could confuse me with.

    I pointed to her and asked, “Who are you?”

    “Who?” she asked, cocking her head in puzzlement. Then, touched her chest and said, “Weena—Freenn.” As she said the second word, she took my hand and smiled.

    “Friend?” I asked.

    She nodded and repeated, “Weena, freennd.”

    I looked at her hand, then at her, and then back at her hand. It felt awkward. She seemed to know me and to be attached to me, even intimately. I, however, had no recollection of her. There wasn’t even a hint of familiarity. She was a total stranger.

    When I tried tugging my hand free, she pouted, so I stopped. Her childish looks and behavior made me afraid of offending her. I needed an ally, and she was offering.

    Meanwhile, the dancers spun around the circle faster and faster: twirling, #canting first to one side and then the other, weaving in and out, but never colliding. The pipes grew shrill, and their voices filled the air like a flock of chickadees. Periodically someone would #fall to the ground panting. Once rested, they either rejoined the dance or came to stare at me. Some stroked my cheeks or hair, while others decked me with flowers or offered me berries and nuts.

    The Time Machine,” I thought. Yeah, I had finally figured out where I was: The sphinx, the garden-like setting amid rhododendrons, effete people, and Weena—it all fit together. So now I knew my name and location, but not my history or why I was there.

    I sighed. This adventure seemed all too familiar, yet puzzlingly different from the vague impression I had of my past. I was in a book—weird!

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  19. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 128, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Violet #TimeTravelAuthors 08/31 Author's choice/promo

    While I watched, a crowd of fairy-like creatures emerged from the woods. They were slender, feminine figures with shapely limbs. Each wore a colorful tunic belted at the waist.

    A man and a woman led the group, though it was difficult to discern their gender, so similar appeared their features. Small apple-like breasts were the sole difference. The man was garbed in a dusty rose tunic, while the woman wore a #violet one. Crowns of matching flowers encircled their heads. They each played a bamboo flute, and the creatures following them danced to the music, laughing and singing.

    I could have run, and perhaps I should have, but they seemed harmless, and if I fled, my chances of learning anything useful would be minimal. Worse came to worst, I could break through their ranks, so frail did they seem.

    As they drew nearer, I saw they stood a little over a meter tall. I could make out their Dresden features: smooth faces; small, thin, bright-red lips; large, mild eyes; pointed chins; and delicate noses. Curly hair fell to their necks, hiding their ears, but I imagined elvish ones. Except for the absence of wings, they might have been fairies straight out of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I would have been a proper ass not to appreciate their fragile beauty.

    The majority swirled around me, while a few stopped to poke at me, speaking in strange, sweet, liquid tones. Except for one woman, it was all delightful, but totally incomprehensible. She spoke broken English with an odd lisp. The oddness didn’t stop there; one side of her face had been burned.

    “Hurburth?” she asked, embracing me. “Weena miss you.”

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  20. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 61
    #Wss366 Rock #ScribesAndMakers Share a Pun #TimeTravelAuthors 8/30 Whatever

    “Hush!” Sumika responded as my laugh echoed in the room.

    What a spoilsport!” I griped mentally. “And where was the groan? Didn’t my pun deserve one? Alas, punsters always get pun-ish—Ack, I was #rocking it!

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  21. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 127, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Take #TimeTravelAuthors 08/29. craft

    I mulled over my options. Should I follow the flutes? But they gave me the willies. Or should I shout out? That seemed risky. Okay, how about I #take the path? No, if I followed the trail, I would miss my opportunity to investigate the trampled grass.

    Fairy circle it was then.

    The slope leading down through the meadow was gentle. The grass was lush and weed-free. It brushed pleasantly against my legs, making a soft swishing noise. Clover, buttercups, and daisies made the lawn merry. Soon, I found one of many paths leading toward the fairy ring. Occasionally, I saw a fruit rind, a wilted flower chain, or small shoe prints.

    The circle’s bed measured about two meters wide and swung in a lazy curve that would have taken me about five minutes to walk around. The crushed grass gave off a fresh, green scent. It hadn’t been trampled for long.

    As I examined the area, the flute music grew louder. Far from sinister, the tune was familiar, and I found myself humming along: “Greensleeves was all my joy, Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, and who but my lady Greensleeves.”

    When I looked toward the sound, I saw a ruined building #crafted of gray, weathered stone rising above the trees and rhododendron thickets. The music seemed to originate from this edifice.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  22. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 60
    #Wss366 slake #ScribesAndMakers Share a Pun #TimeTravelAuthors 8/28 Whatever

    Some of the shaman’s advice was finally coming in handy. She had said, “From the fourth floor… Find your way into the walls as soon as you can.” With luck, the cat would reveal a secret passage.

    I repeated, “Follow the cat, or we’ll lose it. No #slacking, girl! Mush!”

    Sumika started after the pussy, and we were just in time to see it disappear behind a lacquered screen.

    “Hurry, hurry!” I urged. “It’ll be a cat-o-strophe if we lose it! Ack, ack, ack.”

    My laughter echoed, surely inspiring further ghost stories.

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  23. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 59
    #Wss366 Sloth #TimeTravelAuthors 8/26 Whatever

    “One of Osakabe-hime’s retainers,” I cooed softly, not wanting to scare any more maids with ghostly presences.

    “Where?” Mistress asked.

    “The cat. See its eyes and look closely at the tail. There are two of them, hidden by an illusion.”

    “But it’s so cute!”

    “Agh! #Slothful creatures! No doubt it will report us to the Lady,” I said.

    “Quick, it’s moving! Follow it,” I said, as it slunk out of the room. “It’ll show us the way.”

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  24. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 58
    #Wss366 Bun #ScribesAndMakers Salient #TimeTravelAuthors 23. Animals in your story

    “What?” Sumika stopped in her tracks at the top of the stairs, panic written on her face as she scanned the room. Unlike the utilitarian expanses of the lower floors, the space before us was filled with fine-quality furniture, tapestries, screens, and accoutrema, items made by Japanese craftspeople and Chinese artisans. Even a Persian carpet adorned the area in front of us.

    My cry couldn’t have been more ill-timed. A frightened servant carrying a tray of #buns looked for the source of my cry.

    Sumika froze, waiting for the maid to scurry out of sight behind a fine screen showing a willow tree, and then presumably she fled as far from the ghostly voices as possible.

    Rather than watching the woman, my gaze rested on a luxurious, sleek, gray cat lying on a Chinese bureau. The #salient feature from my point of view was not its pampered condition, but its violet eyes, which watched our every move.

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  25. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 57
    #Wss366 Tang #TimeTravelAuthors 8/22 Whatever

    Armed with the map of the fortress and its grounds, we continued toward the citadel. The parade of passages, gates, and courtyards along the way was bewildering. I had forgotten just how bad it was to be a ground-hugger. If only I could take off and fly, I would be at the castle within minutes.

    The evening chill had set in by the time we passed through the last gate and entered the main building.

    The Spartan interior took me by surprise. I’d been expecting opulence. The #tang of oil rather than incense flavored the air. Instead of tapestries and painted screens, stacks of supplies and siege equipment dominated the room. It was so cavernous I could have flown around unhindered.

    On climbing to the next floor, we found the same thing. It was largely an open space with arrow slits in the walls. Guards were resting in small clumps, chatting. Their voices echoed eerily.

    I imagined what the scene would have been like during wartime, with soldiers milling about. The air would have been filled with battle cries and the sound of flying arrows. Just the idea of their hectic motion made me want to seek shelter in the rafters.

    Fortunately, the guards at the stairs and checkpoints were casual, and we reached the fourth floor without issue.

    Of course, as the mountain shaman had warned, that’s where the problems began.

    As we entered, I cawed, “We’ve been seen!”

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  26. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 125, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Tremor #TimeTravelAuthors 08/17. Does anyone travel to the future? What did they (or would they) think of it?

    I made my way back into the meadow at the forest’s edge and sat down where I could see both the woodland path and the trampled circle below. Strawberries gleamed in the nearby grass, and I idly picked a few.

    When I sampled one, a tart sweetness spread across my tongue, reminiscent of wild Écouves berries.

    The Écouves Forest; that was an odd detail to remember. Even though I had forgotten my past, I still had access to a lot of random information. I understood that was common for people with amnesia.

    The fruit was truly delicious, better than ones I’d had at fancy restaurants, like on the Hindenburg.

    I stopped, and a #tremor passed through me: another memory! It was just a brief glimpse, but I could extrapolate from it. The Hindenburg crashed in 1937. I didn’t know what the current date was, but nothing like the sphinx had existed in the history I “knew.” This must be the future. Given the age of the monolith, it was the far future!

    None of this made sense. Maybe none of it was real. Was I a psychotic patient in a mental ward?

    I looked around for any sign that I was hallucinating. I pinched myself. It was a cliché test, but the pain reassured me. My chaotic memories were bizarre, but the world was stable, unlike a delusion or dream. The majestic trees appeared ageless, yet otherwise mundane. There was no sinister overlay to the oaks, ash, and pines. The grass smelled fresh and green. A wind with the subtle scent of summer brushed my cheek. It seemed idyllic. Nothing like the ravings of a mad person. Rather lonely, though.

    I gave up on my speculation and followed the flow of my thoughts. I wished Emily were there with me. Yes, Emily! A vague image of a woman arose. She had bobbed, short, black hair, brilliant blue eyes, and a slight Asian cast to her features.

    “Emily, Emily, Emily,” I said to myself. Was she my girlfriend, partner, or coworker? Whoever she was, she was important to me.

    The last strawberry went into my mouth. She would have loved these. I almost heard her say, “They’re peachy; the cat’s pajamas.” Her deep-timbered voice blended with the sound of flutes.

    At first, I thought I’d imagined the music. But no, the wind from the woods was carrying it to me. I wasn’t alone!

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  27. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 56
    #Wss366 Welcome #TimeTravelAuthors 8/16 Whatever

    Beyond the archway stood a body of water, several paths, and a passage in the wall. One of my friends, a big bill, was enjoying the pool. I hoped he got leprosy.

    Mistress looked around and said, “Hum?”

    What did the mountain shaman mean by saying it would be easy to climb to the fourth floor of the fortress? It would be a major feat to even reach the castle, which loomed ahead, off to our right.

    My opinion of Sumika’s prior incarnation plummeted. No wonder Glinda-chan was such a pigeon.

    While I stewed, she moved into an alcove where no one would overhear us and reached into her robe.

    “A map,” she said, pulling out a printed sheet and waving it in front of me. “And you thought I was a silly starling!”

    “I’m impressed. My fledgling is growing up to be a wise crow like me. I knew joining your murder was a brilliant idea!”

    “First, I am not yours! But thank you. That is the first nice thing you’ve said to me, even if you’re confused about who’s mistress here.”

    “You’re #welcome, Mistress.” I suppressed my laugh as too noisy for our current situation.

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  28. #TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 124, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Visit #TimeTravelAuthors 08/15. Saturday excerpt (optional word: match/same)

    As rapidly as the image of my mother arose, it disappeared. I guess my appendix scar had come in useful. I had a name again, as well as the hope that I would remember more.

    As I rubbed the sphinx’s plaque, I thought about the vision, trying to use it as an entry point into my lost memories. It proved useless. All I came up with was that my mother visited me when I had my appendix removed and a warm feeling for ma mère.

    Eventually, I gave up and refocused on the bronze plate. Corrosion blurred the image, but I still made out a naked man with winged shoes and helmet: Hermes. Below, in Latin, it read, “In memory of Prince Henry XI of Greater Albion.”

    I stopped and stared. I didn’t know Latin! Yet I read it easily. And the figure… Hermes… Mercury… It #matched a mural I’d seen in a dim tunnel. Right, I’d been in a passage along with my companion Emily. She wasn’t an illusion.

    “I had a dream!” I exclaimed out loud.

    I desperately reached to recall it. There’d been a pink Eye of Providence and blue dragonflies. Rabbits with guns and swastikas. If I thought fairies unrealistic, then what about these Hieronymus Bosch images?

    As hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember.4 more I threw down the rag. I wouldn’t find anything more here.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

  29. #Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

    Himeji Castle (Airisu POV): Post 55
    #Wss366 return #TimeTravelAuthors 8/14 What ever

    I’d pictured that once we entered the castle’s gate, we would cross a yard and enter the main citadel, much like a European castle. There was indeed a large courtyard, but I already saw things would be more complicated than I’d assumed. Ahead rose buildings, walls, and sprawling paths. Above us, my nosy, big-billed cousins circled, so I couldn’t even scout.

    Sumika unhesitantly followed one of the broad avenues that led around a vast green. I hoped it was the right way.

    As if reading my mind, Mistress said, “I visited Himeji when I was a kid. This part’s easy, but it turns into a maze later. I got lost on the #return trip; what a nightmare! Someone found me crying in a dead-end courtyard. So embarrassing.”

    I managed a soft coo. “Ohooo oh.” I could picture it. Even though I hated kids, it touched my heart.

    “There’s another gate ahead,” she said after walking a good way and navigating two more intersections.

    We slipped through this barrier as well, then stopped.

    “This is where it starts getting complicated,” Sumika said.

    Starts,” I thought. “I’m already lost.

    #TootFic #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #TimeTravel #Serial #SlowBurn #Sapphic #Folklore

  30. Stegosaurus Ice cream

    A #TimeTravelingGhost Side Story
    #Wss366 Chief #TimeTravelAuthors 08/7. If your work was an ice cream flavor, what would it be?**

    Ahead of us, the Jurassic jungle thinned, and the land sloped up. The trees were more widely spaced, but they still obscured my view of the cliffs we were heading towards.

    I was grateful to be walking on fallen leaves rather than slogging through the mud. The ferns were still thick in patches, but I threaded my way through them with minimal effort. However, the #chief hazard remained: the native behemoths.

    The stagnant air of the swamp was replaced by a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, and my thoughts strayed.

    Ice cream would have been a delightful addition. Hmm, what flavor would my recent adventures be?” I wondered, my fancies taking full flight.

    Something tropical: Mango or peach. Yes, mango would be pleasant. I’d enjoy that. Champagne cocktail flavor would be more appropriate, but do they even make that flavor? Okay, no cheating. How about horehound? That had a nice, old-fashioned sound. I guess that would be cheating too. Sarsaparilla then. That was an old-timey name for root beer, or at least I think.

    I should have paid more attention, as I received a nasty shock when a stegosaurus burst from behind a grove of trees where it had been hidden.

    Fortunately, it wasn’t a carnivore. The only damage I sustained was a near-heart attack as the immense beast lumbered past. It was almost comical, with its plates rattling and its tail striking trees as it thudded past. There was a chipped plate midway down its back. It was only funny because I was far enough away that the tail posed no threat.

    A minute later, Emily landed and apologised for not spotting it.

    She looked nonplussed when I asked her, “Do you think a stegosaurus would like sarsaparilla ice cream?”

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Dinosaurs #Humor

  31. #TimeTravelingGhostV2 EP 12: Post 123, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

    #Wss366 Puzzle #TimeTravelAuthors 08/3. Where does your main character live/where are they from?

    As the images from my dream faded, I began to panic. The earlier questions haunted me: “Who was I? Where was I? Where had I come from?”

    I had the strange conviction that I wasn’t from this time or place. That knowledge had been lost somewhere in the mists of time. What an odd way of putting it. Surely I meant lost in the void of my memory?

    No, I meant the former: “Lost in time.

    I shook my head and struggled to my feet. I wouldn’t find any answers lying there. It was of the utmost importance that I learn more.

    There it was again: that feeling of almost knowing. I knew the fate of the world depended on my piercing this veil of ignorance. That conviction burned in my mind.

    I took stock of my surroundings: the Sphinx, crop circle, path into the forest, tiny wild strawberries winking at me in the grass. I #puzzled over what I should do first.

    #TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn