Author: FORTHRIGHT

My Storytelling Style in Two Frames

House of Five Leaves. I am currently rereading the manga series House of Five Leaves by Natsume Ono, which is a historical story about an awkward ronin who bumbles his way into a group of criminals who call themselves “The Five Leaves.” When he stays (even after learning that they’re kidnappers who live off ransom money), he becomes their fifth member.

I first met Ono’s work as an anime, which I’ve watched countless times. The music, the voices, the ambiance … I find them calming. So I’ll often have House of Five Leaves playing on the side while I’m writing. Last year, I picked up the manga. Mostly to see if there was more to the story. Much to my amazement, the story diverges at Volume 4. Not only does the anime edit out an entire (main!) character, the ending is different. (Not in a bad way, simply different.)

Anyhow! These two screenshots are from the first and last episodes of the anime. And I think they sum up my storytelling style quite neatly. Continue reading →

by Categories: AnimeTags: 13 Comments

LMM 119: The Last Cookie

Claimer: I do hereby claim all rights and responsibility for the characters in this series of vignettes because the Amaranthine Saga is mine. (Which means I should probably behave myself since anything I say or do could be taken as canon.) Indulge the lot of us, especially the one with too many secrets.

119
The Last Cookie

Jacques lost his awe of Hisoka. Continue reading →

by Categories: Amaranthine InterludesTags: 8 Comments

Fortune Cookie Challenge

Far from Forgotten. Two deadlines and a quarantine caused necessary delays in getting all the details sorted, but I can now announce the prize winners of the Fortune Cookie Challenge. Thank you to everyone who posted personalized fortunes for members of the casts of the Saga & Songs! Luck was with these four, who were selected by the random number generator: Continue reading →

by Categories: Random AsidesTags: 2 Comments

LMM 118: Changing of the Guard

Claimer: I do hereby claim all rights and responsibility for the characters in this series of vignettes because the Amaranthine Saga is mine. (Which means I should probably behave myself since anything I say or do could be taken as canon.) Indulge the lot of us, especially the safe one.

118
Changing of the Guard

Taking Hisoka’s place, Jacques watched with fascination as Continue reading →

by Categories: Amaranthine InterludesTags: 10 Comments

Bard & Barbarian

Updated! There’s another update to Bard & Barbarian, which I post exclusively to Patreon as a way to thank my patrons. In Chapter 8: “Nameless,” Imber’s father and uncle test his bardic mettle.

BnB 008

In related news, FoxOfTwilight is working on art for my boys. After some waffling (because little!Imber is a cute little button), we decided to make the bard an adult for this dual portrait. Because little boys will soon grow up to have adventures of their own. ::twinkle::

Imber crop

forthrightly on Patreon >>

 

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#SixFanartChallenge

Taking Suggestions! My Twitter feed has been blowing up with this challenge for two days now, and I’ve been dropping suggestions left and right. (Some even get chosen! Fwee!) Well, I didn’t have to coax very hard for FoxOfTwilight to agree to do the #SixFanartChallenge specifically for the Songs & Saga. So what are your Amaranthine universe requests? Drop them in comments, and we’ll pick our six favorites!

EU9o1D6UUAAMtTf

@ForthWrites on Twitter >>

by Categories: FanArtTags: 12 Comments

Release Day!

Governed by Whimsy is OUT. This is the solo digital edition. The print anthology will be coming along later, probably in May. An audio edition of the 4-story collection is already contracted, so you can also look forward to Travis Baldree’s narration.

His whims drove off her predecessors.
Her whimsy drives him to distraction.

Songs of the Amaranthine 04, Governed by Whimsy

To Ambrose P. Merriman, a stage actor who’s gained acclaim on three continents, reaver escorts are more trouble than they’re worth. Easy-come, easy-go, he hardly bothers to learn their names anymore. But the director and producer of their theater troupe, who are already dancing on the fringes of acceptability, won’t risk losing their independence by neglecting this duty to the In-between.

Reaver Greta Demerara comes with suspiciously excellent references, but by the time the Evernhold brothers realize she’s carrying considerably more baggage than anyone bothered to mention, the train’s already left the station. What’s more, it’s quickly apparent that Greta’s no easier to deal with than their star. It’s either a game of cat and canary or a courtship. And Ambrose would give almost anything for a look at the script.

NOW AVAILABLE!

P.S. I’m not seeing it in storefronts other than Amazon just yet, but it should be showing up soon. (Not much I can do to hurry things along. Thank you for your patience.)

by Categories: Songs of the AmaranthineTags: 8 Comments