fan fic | Superior Realities

Six years have now past since the first post appeared on Superior Realities. Time flies when you’re yelling at Blizzard, I suppose.

In some ways it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but in others it feels like a lifetime. I was still writing Dispatches from the Romulan War when this blog started, for crying out loud.

When the blog started, I lived in Toronto, then I moved to the country for a few years, then I moved back to the city. Seems like rather a lot of effort just to move from the west end to the east end.

I still miss Parkdale. My new neighbourhood is nice, too, but that’s the problem. It’s too nice. I’ve been here for going on two years now, and I’m still waiting to get the bum’s rush. I don’t fit in here.

I try to visit Parkdale as often as possible. I feel like I belong there. It’s the only place I’ve ever been where I’m not the weirdest person around.

When I lived in Toronto the first time, I lived with my father and a couple cats. Now that I’ve returned, I live alone with many books but no cats.

When the blog began, freelance writing was still some new and exciting adventure I was embarking upon. Now it’s just old hat.

I’ve written… three novels since this blog started. I think. Three or four. Of course only one of them (Human Again) has seen the light of day so far. I’ve also written who knows how many short stories in that time.

Six years ago, I had hair. I should really update that profile picture at some point. Male pattern baldness can suck it, by the way.

When the site launched, I was a huge Metric fan, and now I’m a huge Metric fan who’s shaken Emily’s hand (best day ever). I’m also now a huge Chvrches fan, but I haven’t shaken Lauren’s hand.

When Superior Realities began, I was still in the process of re-entering the gaming world. Of course I’d been playing WoW for a while by then and had also played StarCraft II and maybe one or two other things, but I was still a bit out of the loop on the industry as a whole.

Since then I’ve broadened my horizons considerably. I eventually got around to most if not all of the games I missed out on during my teen years and embraced many modern classics, as well as a few more obscure titles. I hated Bioware for a while, then I kind of liked them, then I loved them, then I think I hated them again for a bit, and now I’m just generally confused.

I’ve blogged through four WoW expansions, the rise and fall of my passion for Guild Wars 2, and my totally unexpected dive into Star Wars: The Old Republic. I fell in love with The Secret World, and now I’ve had to cope with its inglorious collapse. In general I’ve created enough MMO characters to form an entire battalion, and like half of them are named Maigraith.

I’ve mourned the cancellations of Defiance and Sanctuary, and I’ve fallen in love with Continuum, Dark Matter, and iZombie. I’ve reviewed some very good movies, and also Immortals.

It has been suggested I should take this opportunity to examine whether I’ve achieved my goals for the blog, to which I can only say… maybe? I guess?

Honestly I’m kind of losing sight of what the point was originally supposed to be. Nowadays blogging is just part of my routine; it’s not something I think a lot about. Just an excuse to run my mouth (figuratively speaking) without anyone trying to change the subject on me like they usually do.

I’m mostly happy with the traffic I get, though of course it’d always be nice to get more, and I do get a decent amount of attention within the greater community, so that’s nice.

Shake your head, it’s empty…

I will confess that I wish I got more comments, though. Figure pretty much every blogger wishes they got more comments, and compared to the handful of blogs I follow, I seem to get less comments than most. Not sure why this is, but I imagine it’s some combination of my terrible opinions, my long-winded endurance test of a writing style, and my cantankerous personality.

Of course, reflecting on the past also invariably leads one to pondering the future. For the most part, I suppose it will continue to be steady as she goes for Superior Realities for the immediate future.

I’m always mulling ideas for new types of content, but I dismiss almost all of them.

There’s often the temptation to expand beyond my relatively narrow sci-fi/fantasy/video game focus (the lack of Simpsons content on this blog saddens me sometimes), but at the same time I think there’s something to be said for keeping a clear vision for the site. I like the idea that my readers know what they’re getting: angry nerd rants and Elves.

I’ve thought about doing a series on various songs that I use for inspiration when writing fiction, but most people’s ears start bleeding when confronted with my musical taste.

I could also probably get a lot more posts out of the head canon and backstories for my video game characters, but my previous posts on that subject have the dubious distinction of being the least popular posts I’ve ever done by every available metric, so I probably won’t bother with that.

I tried my hand at video content recently, and there’s some temptation to do more of that, but it’s another thing that didn’t get much reaction. Plus I’m not sure I can bring anything to the table that the legions of YouTubers out there aren’t already covering, and I definitely have a voice for text (which is like a face for the radio, kind of).

I’m also often tempted to post more of my fiction and thoughts related to it on the blog, but again, such posts never seem to generate much interest, so I’m kind of gravitating away from that at this point.

Seriously, if you ever feel like doing me a favour, go read some of my stories and leave feedback. I don’t mind criticism as long as it’s constructive. I’m particularly interested in opinions on The Wounding and Lady of the Dawn, as that setting is very important to me, but In Her Sister’s Pose is probably the best thing I’ve written as far as short fiction goes.

Anyway, if any of these ideas sound like they’d interest you, or if you there’s something else you’d like to me to do with the blog, let me know, but otherwise it’s probably going to be status quo for the time being. There is many a Warcraft rant yet to be written.

In closing, I would like to thank my readers for sticking with me all this time. Be seeing you, sweetlings.

In the half-light.

As you may know, I have, shall we say, strong feelings about one of the cosmetic items introduced in The Secret World’s most recent holiday event. This led to the creation of an entire new peace of head canon, which I now share with you.

Fun fact: This is exactly 666 words. The dark gods have clearly smiled on this endeavour.

———————-

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT – initiate Ljósálfar codex – RECEIVE – initiate the Huldra cadence – SO I DRIFT AWAY AGAIN – initiate Alfheimr anthem – TO WINTER I BELONG – welcome the children of winter – WITNESS – the Alfar.

In the far north, up Lapland way, you will find people fair of hair and bright of eye. There is something about them that both draws and repels the gaze, some quality that is all at once wholesome and repugnant.

All who see them find their hearts filled with a hopeless longing, but something warns against ever acting on these feelings toward the fair folk. Their skin is always cold to the touch.

Once, every few years, a terrible blizzard will blow through the Nordic lands. All the world turns white, and the wind howls like a hungry wolf. Sweetlings of all stripes cower in their homes, clinging to their electrical lights and artificial heat as the primal fear shivers through their veins and they pray to see another dawn.

Unbeknownst to them are the figures who walk unscathed through the storm, barefoot and barely clothed. The howling wind caresses them like a lover. The snow settles upon their skin like the finest jewellery.

Who are the fair ones? The world has passed them by, but we recall the ancient names.

Huldufólk. Tallemaja. Tuath Dé. Alfar.

They are the ancients, who first named the trees and marked the passing of the seasons. They were the bringers and the curers of disease, the hand of plenty and the breath of the grave.

You remember them, sweetling. Deep down you do. Not in words or even in images, but through the longing in your heart, the nostalgia for the place you’ve never been, the reverence for the name unspoken.

They were mighty once, feared and loved in equal measure. They were the raging cry and the soulful voice of the natural world.

But there was one power even they could not master, and it was time. As the centuries progressed, the world changed, and they could not adapt as quickly. Inch by inch, moment by moment, mile by mile, year by year, the world they knew slipped away.

It happened too slowly and yet too quickly. A world of mystery and superstition was supplanted by a world that no longer respected the old ways, and the Alfar faded into obscurity.

Echoes of their influence percolated through the simmering soup of simian consciousness, coalescing into cartoon caricatures and clean cut film stars swooned over by young girls.

The remaining fair ones learned to blend in among the talking apes. With subtle glamours they concealed their true natures and forced themselves to find a place within the distant corners of your society.

In the far north, up Lapland way, you will find people fair of hair and bright of eye. They have learned to swallow the indignities of pop culture. They have learned to live among your crude kind.

Yet they have not entirely forgotten the old ways. Every few months, when the moon is bright and the stars burn like a million tiny candles, they will gather amid trees and upon the tundra. They shed their illusions and dance with the wind. They sing songs in languages never heard by human ears.

And they remember. They remember a time when they were second only to the gods. They remember a time when they did not have to hide. They remember a time when they were feared and adored and coveted and worshipped.

And they remember how the worshippers abandoned them. They remember how the talking apes took it all away.

That is not dead which can eternal lie, sweetling. The Alfar have dwindled, but they are not gone, and they have never forgotten. As the dark days fall and shadows come to embrace all that you have ever known, how will the fair ones react? They are the disease and they are the cure. Will they be your salvation, or your doom?

Superior Realities

Tag Archives: fan fic

Superior Realities Sixth Anniversary: Reflections

Fan Fiction: The Alfar

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