The EQ Alternaverse ((PART 1))

A new fic is up for Alt-FQ! Melati gets some healing, and civilization meets Beast. Spoiler: It doesn't go entirely as planned.

http://www.janesenese.com/swiftverse/stranger.html

And stay tuned for some truly frightful developments just in time for Halloween. This time last year, Beast made his debut, but 2015 Alternaverse Fright Night is upping the ante!

Is it me or is Haken softening up a little.

Melati is in for a long "Reboot" to her Hard Drive.

I am intrigued by that moment where Cholla and Rayek talk about seeing other realities and the temptation to take other paths. Here in the Alternaverse, Rayek's life seems pretty good... the only thing I can think he may want to re-do is Howling Rock. I hope this gets explored more later.

Timmain's actions don't seem that monstrous, here, but I do love the theme of "fight for the one you love" over "the only way to love is to let them slip away."

I like this series, but... Why is everyone so rude to Timmain? The go to response for whatever she says seems to be to call her a bitch or something. It's kind of extreme of them...

Well, the people who are outright insulting her are fairly extreme themselves - Haken and Chani are hardly what you'd call thoughtful and considerate.

Swift and Rayek, OTOH, just treat her as an elderly relation who has rather overstayed her welcome in their house. Which she kinda is. And Timmain treats them like exasperating children who are squatting in her old digs. Which... they kinda are.

Lunakat wrote:

I like this series, but... Why is everyone so rude to Timmain? The go to response for whatever she says seems to be to call her a bitch or something. It's kind of extreme of them...

Yeah, no… this is actually the first time she's been called a bitch, at least by anyone but Haken (who she just ignores anyway). And I wouldn't expect a reaction from Haken and Chani to be anything but extreme, because they loathe Timmain. Everyone else just rolls their eyes at her a bit.

Maybe it seems like "everyone is so rude" to Timmain because it's such a contrast from canon. Where everyone lives up her tuckus 24/7.

Ok- so the bottom line is that all of the characters are just generally rude to each other. Got it!

Sounds like a family reunion on Thanksgiving!

Mmm-hmm.

Meanwhile, here are Gypsy Moth and Sandpiper dollz to round out the "family royal" (man, that always felt like a weird term to use in Elfquest!)

ohh my gosh. i've been waiting ages for Beasts reveal and you did not disappoint. the ending of the chapter did almost make me tear up...what must Cricket be feeling seeing his son/not son?

and all this chaos with Melati...and them living in the palace now. me thinks the palace is going to have an effect on Beast in the long term...especially if he's somehow slowly gaining an ability to send. and oooooh fright night. I'M EXCITED BRING IT ON COME ON COME ON COME ONNNN!!!<3

moth and sandpiper look great, sungirl! (moth looks a lil pale though, for being rayek's kid and being out at sea a lot--idk i just figured she'd be darker, like sunstream and venka)

I do kinda like the dynamic timmain has with everyone else, though--i think it makes sense that she would have tension with her descendants, especially since she's basically the mother wolfrider and happens to fall really hard on the 'wolf' part

Thanks Kaza! Yeah, Gypsy is a bit pale, but she's meant to be noticeably lighter-skinned than her siblings. I maybe went too far!

And I echo what Vaeri said about Cricket and Beast's meeting - total tearjerker! Cricket is such a genuine hardcore candy-coated sweetheart

well Gypsy was always described as being nearly as fair skinned as Swift. if anything, i think the doll excellently represents her years at seas and she's got a nice little bit of a tan going on!

if anything, Sandpiper's hair surprises me. so...poofy. XD

It's the humidity Piper has that rare curly hair gene - it doesn't frizz in the humidity, it just gets bigger and curlier! One of the many things Gypsy loves about her!

soo i did some more sketches

first up, some melati and weatherbird:


i know melati has straight hair, but i was sketching and i thought 'why don't i try some dreadlocks on her?' and i think they really suit her!

aand some moth and piper:


i gave piper big 80s hair

Lovely, Kaza! I like Melati particularly, you got her elegance and haughtiness just perfect!

Second that - that's some spot-on side-eye Mel has going on there! And I love Gypsy Moth's expression - that predatory smirk is so her!

And as promised, some Halloween horror! Final Quest continues with Night Falls:

http://www.janesenese.com/swiftverse/nightfalls.html

Warning: this fic contains graphic death scenes, examples of body horror, and a sexually aggressive Timmain. Truly, the stuff of nightmares.

Um Uh... WOW!

Quote :

a sexually aggressive Timmain

I'll just say that she is trying to Rape someone

Poor Wolf mother. She saw something that really shook her.

you just haaaaad to play with what happened between Skywise and Timmain in the canon.*chuckles* a good twist though. and definitely riveting, with the nightmares. i barely blinked because i was reading so hard.

i wonder if this is Kahvi's doing somehow...?

Creepy, creepy, Wingthing!

I love that but about Beast's voice being almost as deep as Rayek's. I hated how high his voice was in the dramatization they did. Heh.

creepy timmain was sooo freakinn creepyyyyy eughhh

(dramatization? what dramatization is this? i need to hear it!)

Jeeeez, Wingthing. I ADORE THIS SERIES. I mean seriously. I love it. I dream of it and love what you've done, the levels you've taken it to. One of my main grips about EQ was that it didn't go deep enough with characters for whatever reason, and now it does, and as a result it makes everything.... less peachy.
And i love the hell out of that.
I love that Timmain is not treated like some creature to worship. Look, I've actually never cared for Timmain in all of EQ in general. The worshipful stuff always got on my nerves. She's been around them a long time and why the hell should they always drool over some PTSD Elf with skin decision problems? I just love the dynamic now, it feels so much more meaty and awesome. Timmain continues to be a pain in the ass along with other high ones. And yes, the high ones are a pain in the ass in general. They all could benefit from some damn therapy lol.
I love Chani/Haken.
I ADORE the Oasis/Sorrows End stuff. The designer food and designer recognitions. In sharp contrast to the wolfriders and their never-ending line of chiefs who made my eyes cross, because really, how awesomely realistic is it if they just KEPT GOING. I love these contrasts you have.


I'm so fascinated by so many characters. Melati's storyline is incredible. I really would like to know though what happened to Yosha's spirit. I love how you made Melati more on Beast's level lately, instead of vice versa in trying to make him change to a more sophisticated version of what she dreamed.

And I ADORE the new Leetah. She's like one of my Egyptian aunts or something. Such a pain in the ass. I love it. Her storyline with Souter and then Pool is heartbreaking. I would love to see an installment on what happened to Pool in general. He really pissed me off. I felt bad for him but then wanted to smack him. I love Cholla btw. What an awesome character.


I can keep going but sleep is going to keep nagging me until I give in. IT'S SO GREAT to read your work, it's an inspiration to me as I finish my own book now, because it just makes me realize the endless possibilities.
Seriously, Grrrrl., Keep writing. I love your style.

Thanks so much, Zadzi! I love hearing back from readers (especially when I hear I've gotten them addicted! )

I'm having so much fun writing my take of Final Quest - for years I swore I didn't want the headache of trying to do a huge time jump forward to Djun-era, but it's been such a great challenge trying to puzzle out how all the tribes (and characters) might have evolved over 10,000 years.

Updates will be a little less frequent for the next while, as I wrestle with the writing demands of real life (curse you, report card season!) But we WILL eventually be seeing more of Pool, as well as getting some answers about Yosha's missing spirit. This whole arc with Kahvi and her Howling Rock Mindcoil is only the first half of the Final Quest story!

sooo as usual, certain scenes of the stories strike me...sometimes i feel confident in drawing them, but this was not one of those times! i wanted this done AWESOME! so i commissioned a friend of mine to draw the end scene of Unwanted. and she did greeeeat <3

Wow, that is AMAZING! Your friend does incredible work! That's Palacestone-possessed Kahvi to a tee!